A former undersecretary of the Department of Justice tried to bribe detained suspects to stop cooperating with the investigation of the March 4 killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel R. Degamo and nine other persons, a lawyer alleged Thursday.
Levito Baligod, counsel for the Degamo family, said the suspects are currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“A certain high-ranking official of the Department of Justice before with the rank of Usec (undersecretary) is working with some jail guards at the NBI detention facility to offer money to the detainees so that they won’t cooperate with the government,” Baligod said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
Baligod did not name the former DOJ undersecretary, the jail guards or the suspects under NBI detention.
“Remember the DOJ has supervision and control over the NBI and having been with the DOJ before in a high capacity this former undersecretary knows people at the NBI,” Baligod said.
“This person has been retained as a lawyer by some of the respondents and he has been helping in that way,” he said.
Baligod admitted that he has raised the issue with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr., but both officials have yet to respond to requests for comment.
He said he asked Remulla and Abalos to transfer the detainees from the NBI detention facility to the Philippine National Police Custodial Center.
“In that way we can insulate them from the people corrupted or bribed by this former DOJ official,” he said.
“No less than four of the detainees talked to me immediately after the preliminary investigation hearing at DOJ telling me, saying ‘Sir, we were being offered money inside the detention facility. When we refused, we were being pressured. They separated us,” Baligod said.
Remulla had earlier disclosed that some suspects in the Degamo slaying have started to be represented by private lawyers. He said during their investigation, the suspects were represented by lawyers of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO)
He had also said that there might be recantations of the extra-judicial confessions executed by the detained suspects.
Despite the possible recantations, Baligod expressed confidence in the prosecution of the cases in court.
“In fact, even if all the 11 these detained persons at the NBI will recant, this will not affect the prosecution,” the lawyer said.
“We have two other very credible witnesses that we will present during the trial,” he said.
Also on Thursday, the lawyer of Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves, Ferdinand Topacio, questioned the timing of the government’s filing of charges against his client.
“What took them so long? We have been telling them, if you have evidence, please file them in court, before the DOJ, so we might respond to them instead of engaging in trial by publicity,” Topacio said in an interview on ANC .
He said he believed Teves would not return to the Philippines even if a warrant is issued for his arrest.
He said the 1987 Constitution and the Supreme Court recognize “the right to keep oneself out of danger is a recognized right.”
“The return of Congressman Teves will depend only on one thing and one thing alone: whether or not the grave threats to his life and safety have abated,” Topacio said.
He accused Remulla of being biased toward the Degamo family.
While the Justice chief has been coordinating with the Degamo camp, he would not care to listen to Teves, Topacio said.
Meanwhile, five other persons have been included as co-respondents in the criminal complaints filed against Teves in connection with the killings of Gov. Roel R. Degamo and nine other persons in Pamplona town on March 4, 2023.
Also named in the complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday were Angelo V. Palagtiw, Neil Andrew Go, Capt. Lloyd Cruz Garcia, Nigel Electona, and a person identified only with the aliases “Gee-Ann, Jie-An,” reportedly a sister of Palagtiw.
Teves and his co-respondents were charged with 10 counts of murder, 14 counts of frustrated murder, and four counts of attempted murder under the Revised Penalty Code. No bail is available in a murder trial.
Seven accused in the killings have been charged in court and their cases are pending before the Manila regional trial court (RTC). The transfer of the cases from Negros Oriental to Manila was authorized by the Supreme Court.
Those charged in court were identified as Marvin H. Miranda, Rogelio C. Antipolo Jr., Romel A. Pattaguan, Winrich B. Isturis, John Louie L. Gonyon, Dahniel P. Lora, and Eulogio L. Gonyon Jr.
Among those newly charged before the DOJ, Electona had been arrested by police in Negros Oriental in March and is facing charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Personal details on the other respondents were unknown as the copy of the complaints was not available.
The DOJ is expected to create a panel to come out with a resolution – either to dismiss the charges or file them in court.
Summons will be issued for the respondents to file their counter-affidavits.
In the case of Teves, who has been abroad despite the expiration of his travel authority on March 9, the summons will be served at his last known address.
Also on Thursday, one of the suspects in the Degamo slay sought the help of the Commission on Human Rights, saying his wife Queenie and two children were taken into custody by the authorities.
At a media briefing in Quezon City, lawyer Danny Villanueva representing Jhudiel Roxas Rivero, also known as Osmundo R. Rivero, asked CHR chairman Richard Palpal-Latoc to look into his complaint that police took his immediate relatives into custody and turned them over to the National Bureau of Investigation.
He insisted that Rivero’s rights as an accused must be respected.