By MELVIN GASCON
SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya—Investigations into the murder of lawyer Ernesto Salunat Sr. have hit a blank wall and the police recently found out why: They were using a “grossly inaccurate” cartographic sketch of the accomplice’s face, and though a second sketch corrected the error, this second sketch had not yet been disseminated.
The gaffe over the artist’s sketch is the latest twist in the murder of Salunat, the former provincial campaign manager of the ruling Liberal Party, who was killed barely a week before his partymate Benigno Aquino III assumed the presidency last year.
Salunat’s murder is considered a “command” case; the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) assigned all its district agents to it. Yet the probe is going nowhere, with the error over the sketch showing not only a low level of police capability in producing precise cartographic sketches but also the lack of coordination between investigating agencies.
For months, police in this province had been on the trail of the accomplice—the driver of the getaway motorcycle used in the killing—guided by what they just recently discovered to be an inaccurate sketch.
The lone witness who supplied police the details found the sketch published by the media and posted in public places to be “masyadong malayo (way off),” said Senior Supt. Elmer Beltejar, Nueva Vizcaya police director.
“(The witness) admitted that he may have given an inaccurate description then, because of all the confusion and the haste in coming out with the artist’s sketch,” he said.
These days, police are using a new sketch, said to be a closer match to how the suspect looks.
But the second sketch has not been released to the media, or even to the NBI, which came up empty-handed when it ran a background check on two persons who, based on its intelligence records, matched the sketch, said NBI investigator Patrick Pacis.
But then, NBI agents were—and still are—using the first and inaccurate sketch.
As a result, both the NBI and the Philippine National Police admit making little progress, despite not letting up on the separate investigations they are conducting.
Government probers have yet to establish a solid theory on the motives behind the killing. They have no suspect to go after, not even a name. As such, no murder charges have been filed in court.
This has outraged Salunat’s family. “We are appealing to our government investigators because we have information that prominent personalities are involved and we fear that there are attempts of a cover-up,” said Early Joy Salunat, the fourth of his six children.
A former governor of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Salunat had fought many cases involving human rights abuses: from helping victims of land grabbing and prosecuting government officials in graft cases, to acting as defense counsel for journalists facing libel suits. He was also a fierce critic of corruption in government.
Then 64 and a practicing lawyer for 40 years, the human rights lawyer was shot at close range with a .38-caliber handgun as he stepped out of the courthouse here and was boarding his white BMW car at 8:20 a.m. on June 22, 2010.
After the shooting, the gunman casually walked toward a man waiting on a motorcycle, boarded it, and sped off.
Neither the gunman nor the driver was wearing a hood or mask to hide their faces. But no one has come forward to describe them, save for the lone witness who helped produce the artist’s sketch.
A day after the assassination, the PNP created Task Force Salunat. But as weeks passed, the family became grew desperate.
In August 2010, two months after the killing, Salunat’s wife Lilia and his five children wrote President Aquino a strongly worded, three-page letter, appealing for his help.
They wrote the letter days before the 27th death anniversary of the president’s father, the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., hoping this would move him to help the families of victims of “injustice and senseless killings.”
“Truth to tell, we are saddened by the snail-paced investigation being conducted by the PNP, NBI, CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group) and SOCO (scene-of-the-crime operatives) team of this province. We have been very patient as we waited and kept mum about the case pending the result of the investigation, in order to give our law enforcement agencies the opportunity to do their jobs,” the family said.
“However, with all due respect to Your Excellency, nobody seems to care about the case anymore and perhaps they just want everything forgotten,” they added.
Similar letters were sent to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima and Human Rights Commissioner Cecilia Quisumbing.
Of the letters sent, only the Department of Justice has responded, but through a transmittal to the NBI director of the family’s appeal from lawyer Maria Charina Buena-Dy Po, who even called Salunat’s death as an “alleged murder.”
NBI agents say the Salunat killing, being a high-profile case, was more difficult to solve than other cases.
“There are just too many leads, too many possibilities,” said Pacis.
First, there’s politics. Salunat, who served as provincial campaign manager of the Liberal Party in the May 2010 elections, was a fierce critic of candidates belonging to the rival Abante Vizcaya, a local party.
In the party’s paid radio program, Arya Vizcaya, as well as in speeches during public gatherings, Salunat exposed the alleged anomalies that hound incumbent provincial officials led by Gov. Luisa Cuaresma.
Among his biggest exposes was the alleged misuse of more than P1 billion in real property taxes paid to the provincial government by California Energy-Casecnan, an American firm that operates the Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigations and Power Project, and the alleged anomalous compromise deal that the province entered with the company.
Salunat also handled sensational cases, including those involving graft against a politician here, which might be the reason he was killed, police sources said.
Family members are themselves at a loss on the possible motive, but were dismayed by unofficial pronouncements of investigators that initially ruled out politics.
Distraught over the slow pace of the investigation, Salunat’s wife and daughter Early Joy have begun doing their own probe, following leads and tips that come their way.
Mrs. Salunat disclosed that from last December to early January, she received feelers through her mobile phone from an unidentified sender who claimed to have vital information on the killing and offered to spill the beans.
“The source was very persistent. He followed up on us almost every day,” she said.
But the family turned it down when the supposed informant demanded a large sum of money in exchange for the information he had.
“The amount is quite big, and we do not know if we can raise it. But if we do raise that amount, how can we be sure that we would not be swindled? And if he would give the information, how helpful would it be in our quest for justice?” Early Joy said.
But the family is certain of one thing: Salunat’s killing was premeditated, and those behind it have the money and underground connections to find hired guns, and the power and influence to protect and hide the assailants.
(Melvin Gascon is a correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. This story is part of the VERA Files project “Human Rights Case Watch” supported by The Asia Foundation and the UnitedStates Agency for International Development. )
