Notes on a Murder

It happened eight months ago. It’s nothing but a distant memory to me now, but it haunted me for weeks, months, after it happened. I tried to write about it. I expected to come up with a meditative, exhaustive prose work. But what I had in the end was a feeble attempt at poetry and a lengthy status message that I decided not to post, realizing that likes were not what I was seeking and comments of friends would not make any difference.

It happened eight months ago, and until now, the killer or killers are still at large. The investigators didn’t even have a suspect. That’s Philippine police work and justice system for you. The best solution is prayers. The text below, which incriminates someone, may or should not be taken as facts of the case.

October 12, 2014
To Carry a Dead Body

A nephew of a cousin-in-law, that’s what you are
to me, not too distant for me not to care,
not too close for me to not know what to do.
So I help carry your body.

You are lying on a blanket carried by six men
like a baby sleeping in a hammock
sung to sleep by your loving mother, except
you’re too big, too heavy, and dead.
Your legs dangle out of the blanket.
The blanket almost sags to the ground
even if the men give
all their strength. Or maybe they can’t give
all their strength, for they don’t want their legs
to brush against the blanket, they don’t want
their pants to be soiled by the blood
oozing from your head
and seeping through the cloth.

We pull you up to the dump truck. An impossible task
it seems to be. But somehow we’re able to do it.
As the truck runs to the funeral home,
we still have to hold on to you, to the blanket,
for you might roll on the floor.
We don’t want you to be hurt because you
have suffered enough from the bullet
that a man put into your head
the previous night.

Your shin presses against my ankle
from time to time as I sit on a spare tire
beside you. You’re not yet too cold or too stiff.
You can pass for someone alive.
Your legs are lean yet taut, darkened by the sun,
streaked with mud. Have you
been plowing the field? Dirt has resided
in your toes, and only the base of your nails
have remained white.

We reach the funeral home and lower you
from the dump truck. It does not seem
so impossible this time, but the blanket
has shifted, and your lower body dangles
out, so I have to hold your thigh.
You can pass for someone alive. Or
maybe not, for when the other blanket,
which covers you, slips down, I see
your grimy forehead and half-shut
yellowish eyes on the blood-soaked sheet.
No, your mother did not put you
on this hammock.

A neighbor did. He who got irked
when you parked yourself
on the road last night and recited the poems
of a drunk.


November 1, 2014
A Day for Souls

Here’s a Halloween story. Three weeks ago, a man was shot dead at midnight about a hundred meters away from our home. He was a relative of a relative, so in the morning, I helped carry his body up and down the dump truck that brought him to a funeral home. He had been shot twice in the head, and though he had been dead for ten hours when we were carrying him, his head was still bleeding, the blood seeping through the blanket where he was lain. At some point, the blanket slid, and I had to hold him by his leg. It was my first time to touch a dead person. It was a chilling experience. But the most chilling thing about this story is that it is true, and until now, the policemen are still clueless as to the identity of the killer.

This Halloween, as we get ourselves busy with party costumes, may we spend some time remembering the victims of gruesome killings. May we be aware that there’s still so much to be reformed in the justice system of the Philippines, and may we care, for if met with apathy, injustice will eventually creep into our doors. More than ghosts, dead men walking, and psychotic serial killers, what we should be afraid of are our ordinary neighbors, even our loved ones. If suddenly pushed to the edge, They can kill us even if they love us. They can kill us even if they don’t want to.

Justice for Rico Bibanco

(Blogger’s note: Below is a part of a letter dated April 7, 2014, addressed to the provincial prosecutor of the province of Sultan Kudarat. As stated on page 1 of the letter, it is “the result of investigation conducted by Agent GENNADY A. CHIONG of the NBI-Central Mindanao Regional Office, Koronadal City, South Cotabato.” Not included are the contents of pages 1 and 2, which enumerates the names of police officers “recommended for prosecution.” Included are the contents of pages 3 and 4, retyped as they exactly appear in the printed form. In the interest of full disclosure, the victim named in the letter is my second cousin.)

The true cause of death according to the autopsy report

CRIME

Murder, defined and penalized under Article 248 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended.

TIME AND PLACE OF THE COMMISSION OF THE CRIME:

October 30, 2013 inside the municipal police station of Senator Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat Province;

HOW COMMITTED:

On October 30, 2013 at about 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon victim RICO BIBANCO was arrested and conducted to the municipal police station by a team of policemen led by SPO1 Nicolas Celeste, patrol team leader. The victim was reportedly creating trouble in the poblacion and even resisted arrest. He was under the influence of intoxicating liquor.

At the police station, while his case was being processed by the desk officer, the victim went berserk and assaulted the complainant, ANTONIO MORALES, and attempted to choke him. He was subdued by the policemen and placed inside the lock-up cell. A few minutes later, the victim was found dead.

The policemen alleged that after the victim was placed inside the lock up cell he kept banging his head against the iron grills of his cell. They told him to stop and a few minutes later they heard silence and when they went to check on their prisoner they discovered him hanging on the wall with one end of his shirt anchored against the ventilation grill of his cell and the other end tied around his neck. They then photograph [sic] the victim while still hanging on the wall with his shirt around his neck.

But the evidence gathered by Dr. Ricardo Rodaje, NBI Medico Legal Officer, who conducted the autopsy on the cadaver of the victim tells a different story. Based on the injuries found on the victim’s cadaver Dr. Rodaje theorized that the victim was first struck on the head several times with a blunt object causing him to suffer TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURIES and when he fell unconscious they hanged him using a rope or cord with width ranging from 0.5 cm. to 1.4 cm. and to make it appear that he committed suicide they replaced the cord or rope with his shirt. The victim was still alive when he was hanged, thus the cause of his death is: ASPHYXIA BY HANGING; TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURIES.

In the absence of direct testimony we resorted to circumstantial evidence to determine the author of the crime and their motive in killing the victim.

Circumstantial evidence points to the policemen on duty in the police station, at the time of the incident, as the perpetrator of the crime because the victim was under their custody and detained in the police lock-up cell, and they are the only ones who have access to his cell.

But what drove the policemen to kill the victim?

It can be inferred from the evidence gathered (Police Blotter and Spot Report) that the victim was under the influence of intoxicating liquor and even resisted arrest when he was apprehended by the police team led by SPO1 Nicolas Celeste while causing trouble in the Poblacion. He destroyed the personal property of complainant ANTONIO MORALES and when he was already at the police station he disregarded the presence of the policemen and went berserk and assaulted the complainant right infront of the desk officer. He was subdued and brought inside the lock up cell.

His actions infuriated the policemen that they started beating him by hitting him on the head with a blunt object, he tried to parry the attack causing him to sustain hematoma on his left wrist. His attackers were so strong they held him tightly to prevent him from employing any defense, his attacker’s tight grip caused their finger tips to leave a deep mark (hematoma) on his arms.

Thinking that he was already dead they hanged him using a rope and to make it appear that he committed suicide they replaced the rope with the victim’s shirt.. [sic]

The deep marks (hematoma) found on the victim’s arm indicate that one person was holding him while another was hitting him on the head after he fell unconscious they carried his body and hanged it. This act could not be accomplished without the accent [sic] of all the policemen present.

The policemen above-mentioned were on duty at the time of the incident. they [sic] were issued subpoenae duces tecum to explain their side of the controversy to exclude those who were not present at the time of the incident but they all opted not to submit their counter affidavits until the case is filed in the prosecutor’s office, hence all those listed in the duty detail are recommended for prosecution.

In support of our recommendation are the following eveidences, [sic] to wit:

A – Case Assignment Sheet
B – Sworn Complaint Sheet of Virgilio Bibanco
C – Request for investigation
D – SS of Virgilio S. Bibangco [sic]
E – SS of Erna Capulso
F – Death Certificate
G – Autopsy Report No. SARDO No. 2013-11
H – Memorandum of Atty. Angelito Magno for Sr. Supt. Rex Dela Rosa
I – Letter to Chief of Police of SNA, SK
J – Memorandum of OIC, SNA Police Office, SK for Acting Director NBI

A Father’s Plea

(Blogger’s note: What follows is the content of a letter dated June 25, 2014, addressed to Atty. Leila De Lima, secretary of the Department of Justice. In the interest of full disclosure, the victim named in the letter is my second cousin. His mother and my father are first cousins. I had no part in the creation of this letter, and I retyped the text as it exactly appears in the printed form.)

Dear Madame:

I am writing this letter with the hope that I will be accorded with ultimate justice to the death of my son RICO L. BIBANCO, who suffered torture acts and was summarily executed in his cell after being arrested by a team of policemen from the Municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino, Province of Sultan Kudarat last October 30, 2013. The incident was investigated by NBI authorities of Region XII based in Koronadal City and has submitted their corresponding findings with conclusion that the victim has been intentionally killed based on autopsy report by the NBI who examined and conducted laboratory test to the dead body of the victim.

The case was already filed in the prosecutor’s office of the Province of Sultan Kudarat and there was no immediate action because all of the suspects who are active policemen presently stationed in the Municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino, Province of Sultan Kudarat are using delaying tactics to the case and there could be a hidden negotiation for them not to be charged in court.

It is amazing to think that until now the filing of corresponding charges or cases against those involved policemen have not yet been made by the court who has jurisdiction to it and we are now absolutely losing our hope considering the long period of time when the incident happened last year.

In view of the foregoing premise, may I respectfully request for legal assistance from your good office to investigate the case and to charge those involved policemen for the interest of social justice.

Moreover, please allow me to say that I have spent a lot of money and using a lot of efforts believing that I can get a fair justice from the government but there seems to be a lapses [sic] on the part of the court by not speeding the filling [sic] of the case against those involved policemen.

Enclosed herewith are pertinent documents relative to the case.

Praying your favorable action on the matter.

Truly yours,

VIRGELIO S. BIBANCO
Father of the victim

 The lower half of the letter, with the sender’s signature