LUCENA CITY: Was it a rubout?
A cloud of doubt now hovers over the alleged “shootout” on Sunday in Barangay Tanauan, Plaridel, Quezon province, where joint forces of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the military killed 13 persons, whom they described as members of a big criminal group from Bicol Region who opened fire at a checkpoint.

Relatives of the slain victims charged “rubout” and decried the police’s “tainting” of the names of their loved ones. Director General Alan Purisima, PNP chief, has ordered an investigation although he rejected claims of a rubout.

“This incident is now under investigation and there was no rubout—it was a shootout. The suspects opened fired first and one of our officers was injured,” Purisima told reporters in Camp Crame.

He was referring to Police Supt. Hansel Marantan, who was shot on the left arm and on both legs.

Marantan was the only one injured in the group of about 50 lawmen who engaged the alleged members of a criminal group in a close encounter.

Among those killed were Lt. Col. Alfredo Consimino, Sgt. Noel Mantuano, Cpl. Jeffrey Valdez, Staff Sgt. Armando Lescano.

Two of the civilians killed, brothers Victor and Jerry Siman, were reportedly rich individuals from Calamba City and allegedly the business rivals of one of the police operatives involved in the “shootout.”

Another civilian fatality was Tirso “Jun” Lontok, founder of Luntiang Alab sa Bundok Banahaw, an environmentalist group based in Sariaya, Quezon.

The other victims were identified as Leonard Marasigan, Conrado Decillo, Victor Gonzales, Victorino Atienza, JimBeam Justiniani and Paul Quiohilag.

Many of those killed were almost unrecognizable from their multiple bullet wounds and some had severe head and chest wounds.

Purisima also directed the police commander for the Southern Tagalog Region, Chief Supt. James Melad, to find out why police and military officers were with the group of suspected criminals.

“We are establishing their background . . . we will find out why they grouped. They came from difference units, they were with civilians and we are still gathering more details,” Purisima said.

As of this writing, Col. Valeriano de Leon, Quezon National Police director, has yet to issue an official statement as to what really transpired on Sunday, when joint elements of Armed Forces of the Philippines-PNP led by P/Supt. Ramon Balauag and LTC Monico Abang, commander of the First Special
Forces Battalion, reportedly flagged down two Montero SUVs in Barangay Tanauan, Plaridel.

Police have yet to present a single evidence that the slain individuals were involved in organized crime activities.

This failure was noted by Chairman Loretta Ann Rosales of the Commission on Human Rights.

“They [the police] said there was suspicion and raw data about a syndicated crime group but it
turned out that there was an environmentalist [in that group]!” Rosales said.

She also questioned why the police fired immediately without determining who were inside the vehicles.

She also ordered a probe into the incident to determine who fired first, who gave the order to fire without knowing who were the other persons and whether human rights were violated.

“You do not just shoot anybody without determining if that person is a combatant or a criminal. Even if that person is a criminal, you should capture him alive,” Rosales stressed.

Only three firearms, an M16 and M14 rifles and a .45-caliber pistol, were recovered from the first Montero. The passengers of the second Montero allegedly did not fire a bullet.

With Reports From Jing Villamente and Anthony Vargas