By Jennifer P. Rendon
Two Iloilo-based police officers were criminally charged in the killing of a drug surrenderer and the son of a former congressman several months ago in Iloilo City.
The murder and theft charges came to fore after repeated pronouncements by the local police hierarchy that the organization has nothing to do with the unsolved killings in Western Visayas.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Officer-In-Charge Eric Distor confirmed Tuesday that the NBI’s Death Investigation Division (NBI-DID) filed the cases against Police Corporals Jerry Villanueva and Joseph Andrew Joven, and two unidentified suspects last May 29, 2020.
The charges stemmed from two separate shooting incidents in Iloilo City.
Alain Muller, a call center worker and drug surrenderer, was peppered with bullets at 12 pm on Jan. 19 at Locsin Street in Barangay Cuartero, Jaro district.
Thirty minutes later, Delfin Britanico, 36, a resident of Mirasol Subdivision, Dicen Street, La Paz, was shot dead at Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz.
Britanico is the son of former Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT) party-list congressman and former Iloilo assemblyman Salvador Britanico.
The theft charge was filed after the suspects allegedly took away Delfin Britanico’s mobile phone.
The police initially handled the case until Britanico’s family sought the help of President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered the NBI to take over the probe.
Initial police investigation indicated that the killers of both victims used the same vehicle – a Mitsubishi Adventure AUV.
NBI investigators later traced the vehicle to PAPO Car Rental. The probe also determined that Corporal Joven was the one who rented the vehicle.
The car rental company’s owner allegedly claimed that Joven admitted to him that the rented vehicle was used as a getaway vehicle in the twin murder incidents.
In a press statement, the NBI said that “Joven admitted that he was the driver of the group.”
“Further, subject Joven said that after killing Muller, they stopped at a vacant lot in Nabitasan, La Paz to strip off the white stickers from the Adventure. Del saw and confronted them so they shot Del (Britanico) to death.”
Joven also asked PAPO car rental owner to pin a certain Osting Del Pilar, a drug-related target of their group, if in case a probe on the death of Muller and Britanico would lead to him.
The NBI said that Britanico has a “temper for traffic violators and does not hesitate to take photographs or videos of such and post them on social media,” as stated by his wife.
The NBI claimed that the suspects might have assumed that Britanico will report what he witnessed to authorities, which prompted the suspects to take his mobile phone.
SUSPECTS’ WHEREABOUTS
Police Captain Shella Mae Sangrines, Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) spokesperson, confirmed that Joven is on the ICPO’s roster of personnel.
But he was recommended to undergo pre-charge investigation for grave neglect of duty, based on a document dated April 6, 2020.
Police Colonel Eric Dampal, ICPO chief, stood as complainant against Joven who allegedly went absent without official leave (AWOL).
Sangrines said Joven, who was assigned to the ICPO Holding and Accounting Unit, has not reported for work sometime in March 2020 when the ICPO was conducting random drug tests on its personnel.
After his unit’s schedule of drug test, he was given one day to have his specimen taken.
He again did not appear, Sangrines said.
“We tried to reach out to him but to no avail. Thus, the AWOL case,” Sangrines said.
As to the NBI’s progress in the investigation, Sangrines said they did not get information before the filing of the case but they were informed of the progress of the case.
Dampal has asked the NBI for a copy of the case folder after it was filed.
After Britanico’s family asked the NBI’s help, Sangrines said the ICPO provided the NBI with the evidence they have gathered.
Meanwhile, Police Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Gorero, PRO-6 spokesperson, confirmed that Villanueva is assigned to the PNP Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (RPHAU) based in Camp Delgado, Iloilo.
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, is expected to issue an order for Villanueva’s protective custody.
Gorero said Villanueva was assigned at RPHAU because he was previously charged.
Former assemblyman Salvador Britanico said they are thankful for the development of his son’s case, saying that it also exonerated Delfin from insinuations that he had links with Muller.
“A lot of people gave tips and information on what happened to my son which we forwarded to the NBI. At least, the investigation indicated that my son’s death had nothing to do with Muller’s case because they never knew each other from Adam,” he added.
TIMELINE
On January 19, a few days shy before the Dinagyang Festival, two broad daylight murder incidents rocked Iloilo City just 30 minutes apart.
The first incident happened 12 pm on Jan 19 at Locsin Street in Barangay Cuartero, Jaro district.
Gunmen sprayed bullets on the 42-year old Muller, a resident of Cuartero village. The victim suffered 28 gunshot wounds on the different parts of his body.
Thirty minutes later, Delfin Britanico, 36, a resident of Mirasol Subdivision, Dicen Street, La Paz, was shot dead at Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz.
Police reports said “Britanico was shot by unidentified person/s in different parts of his body by unknown type of firearm.”
He was taken to Medicus Medical Center where he expired.
Ten empty shells of caliber .45 ammunitions were recovered from the crime scene.
Police Colonel Martin Defensor, Sr., then Iloilo City Police Office, claimed that the twin shooting incidents are not related.
January 21
The NBI – Western Visayas said it would investigate the Britanico murder. Atty. Ramilo Quinto, NBI-6 executive officer, said it is just waiting for the approval of the NBI Central Office to start their investigation.
Quinto said their probe would be separate from the investigation being done by the PNP.
On January 23, ballistic examination revealed that the bullets in both cases came from the same firearms.
By January 24, just as police investigation seemed to be facing a blankwall, the family of Delfin Britanico solicited the public’s help in seeking justice.
On January 29, Police Colonel Enrique Ancheta, chief of the PNP Regional Crime Laboratory Office (RCLO-6), said the caliber .9mm and caliber .45 pistols used in killing Muller and Britanico were not registered with the PNP Integrated Ballistics Information System (IBIS).
This was based on the ballistics examination on the empty shells recovered from the crime scenes.
But Ancheta said the ballistics test yielded another important information: the same caliber .9mm pistol was used in a shooting incident April 18, 2012 in Iloilo.
By February 3, the PNP has formed a team to run after the killers of businessman Delfin Britanico.
The team was created after Delfin’s father sought the help of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, confirmed that they considered Britanico’s killing a significant case, thus, the creation of a special investigation task group (SITG).
On February 20, Police Colonel Eric Dampal took over as ICPO chief. On Dampal’s first day of office, he had one special task to surmount: solve the killing of businessman Delfin Britanico.
Pamuspusan publicly said that the new ICPO commander could use all the resources of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) in order to solve the case.
March 5
The PNP again said they had no major breakthrough in the twin murder incidents.
