Police verifying backgrounds of witnesses

The Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Malubog is wary about getting statements from witnesses who claimed to have seen the killing of five men in Barangay Malubog, Cebu City at dawn of Oct. 4.

Senior Supt. Royina Garma said that after the police were tagged as the ones behind the summary execution of the men, investigators are trying to validate if the claims of the witnesses are true.

Even if a witness claims to have been at the area during the crime, the police will do a background investigation on the person to determine whether he has the tendency to tell the truth or not.

Two witnesses appeared before the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to give their statements regarding what happened in Barangay Malubog.

The police, though, were not convinced that the witnesses were telling the truth. They are wary that they are just out to destroy the reputation of the police.

“Those statements that we got, based on our interviews, I had them countered,” said Garma. “I would not believe in everything you say even if you were there. It has to be corroborated. It has to be validated and checked. This is a sensitive investigation. We don’t want to make a mistake especially when they say that it was the ‘police.’ I have to be very careful.”

CCPO is collaborating with Talisay City after learning that one of the firearms recovered from the crime scene is owned by an “official assigned in a facility in Talisay.”

Supt. Leoncio Baliguat, the chief of the Investigation and Detective Management Branch of CCPO, said they are not yet inclined to name the facility as there is no confirmation from the Firearms Explosive Division of Camp Crame regarding the gun ownership.

“There is already a name of the owner of the firearms... We learned that through the serial number in the license of the firearms,” said Baliguat.