Executive secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., chairman of the Presidential Anti-organized Crime Commission (Paocc), vehemently denied news reports that the Atimonan, Quezon police operation had the blessing of his office.

Thirteen people were killed in the said incident who police earlier claimed were all members of a gun for hire syndicate. But later reports showed that three of them were members of the Philippine National Police, one from the Air Force, two from the Intelligence Service of Armed Forces of the Philippines (PNP), an environmentalist, an insurance agent, an alleged gambling lord and his brother and driver and two other plain civilians.

Authorities manning the checkpoint, headed by PNP Supt. Hansel Marantan, immediately claim that the victims opened fired at them first, thus they were forced to return fire killing all the occupants of the two vehicles.

Ochoa said he did not approve the case operational plan (coplan) submitted by Marantan and his men. Marantan is the deputy chief of the Special Operations Group of the PNP in Region IV-A.

However, PNP Region IV Col. Glenn Dumlao, Public Safety Battalion chief, strongly admitted that the operation of Marantan and his men in Quezon had the approval of the Paocc.

He insisted that though it was not given funds by the said agency it did not mean that it can’t continue with its mission anymore, that is to get Victor Siman.

Dumlao stresses that Paocc had the knowledge and it is aware that it is going after a gambling lord because they were informed of the said operation.

Sources claim that same bloody operation actually targeted only Victor Siman, a known jueteng operator in the Southern Tagalog area. However, the rest of the Siman’s group at that time became “collateral damage.”

Colonel Dumlao was a member of the defunct Presidential Anti-organized Crime Task Force. He and several other officers were linked to the brutal slay of publicist Bubby Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000. He turned state witness. None so far was convicted on the said case.

Now as to the question of whom do we have to believe between the two? We have to look at the credibility of Ochoa and Dumlao. Unfortunately, both of them do not have one anymore.

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