BACOLOD City – The investigation into the alleged abduction of retired policeman Major Lito Pirote last April is ongoing.
Brigadier General John Bulalacao, director of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), said a special investigation task group has been formed to solve the case.
“Iyon nga lang, wala pa mag-volunteer o wala pa kaming nakuhang ebidensiya that will prove the theory being pursued by our investigators,” he said.
Bulalacao noted despite reports of Pirote’s alleged involvement in illegal drug trade, the investigation is not just focusing on that angle, but also on his personal engagements.
“We should dig deeper into it. We should find out what really happened. We should identify who the perpetrators are,” he reiterated.
On Wednesday, Pirote’s 24-year-old daughter Cate said they have not yet received any update on the police investigation for almost two months after her father was abducted.
She showed flyers with her father’s photo printed with the words: “Please help us find our Papa.”
“My instruction to solve the case stands. I cannot pressure our investigators, especially the city police director because it’s really hard to gather pieces of evidence on the angles they are pursuing,” Bulalacao stressed.
Pirote was among those charged by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency before the Department of Justice for alleged involvement in the smuggling of magnetic lifters found to contain billions of pesos worth of illegal drugs at the Manila International Container Port in December, 2018.
The case filed against Pirote was dismissed last April 8 for lack of probable cause.
A Police Station 2 report showed shortly before 11 a.m. of April 19, Pirote, who was at the lobby of Metro Inn Hotel, was seized by five armed men. They allegedly dragged Pirote inside a white Toyota Hi-Ace and sped away. (With a report from PNA/PN)
