ILOILO City – After four months of probe, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) charged two policemen and two other unidentified suspects with murder and theft for the Jan. 19, 2020 shooting here of a son of former assemblyman Salvador “Buddy” Britanico and a call center agent.
The successive killings – just minutes apart – of 36-year-old businessman Delfin Britanico of La Paz district and 42-year-old call center agent and drug surrenderer Alain Muller of Jaro district were initially thought as separate incidents. The NBI, however, discovered they were related by circumstance.
Charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on May 29 were Police Corporal Jerry Villanueva assigned at the Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) and Police Corporal Joseph Andrew Joven of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).
Joven had been AWOL (absent without official leave) since March 12 while Villanueva was immediately placed under restrictive custody at the PRO-6’s Regional Headquarters Support Unit right after the charges were filed by the NBI’s Death Investigation Division.
THE KILLINGS
The first shooting took place in Barangay Cuartero, Jaro a little past noon on Jan. 19 while the one in La Paz happened in Barangay Nabitasan at around 12:30 p.m.
The target in the Jaro shooting was Muller while the victim in the La Paz shooting was Britanico.
Muller was peppered with bullets outside his house by two masked men who alighted from a greyish or silver-painted car at around 12:05 p.m. while a motorcycle-driving Britanico was gunned down at around 12:30 p.m.
Muller was attacked just minutes after emerging from his house. He was brought to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao district where he died.
A week before Muelle’s shooting, Jaro policemen visited his house and tried to coax him into undergoing drug rehabilitation but he refused citing his tight work schedule.
In the case of Britanico, his family initially suspected that this was a business-related killing.
It was also initially speculated that the shooting was a result of a traffic altercation.
Britanico was taken to the Medicus Medical Center in Mandurriao district where he was declared dead.
Assemblyman Britanico sought the help of President Rodrigo Duterte who, in turn, ordered the NBI to conduct a thorough investigation.
NBI’S FINDINGS
According to NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor, the same vehicle – a Mitsubishi Adventure with plate number ABQ7754 – was seen in both killings, and that witnesses further saw one of the suspects taking something from Britanico.
The NBI traced the vehicle to the PAPO Car Rental and determined that it was Joven who rented it for two days or until Jan. 20, 2020.
According to Distor, the car rental owner told the NBI that Joven confessed to him that “the Adventure was used by his group as getaway vehicle in killing Muller and Britanico.”
“Joven admitted (to the car rental owner) he was the driver of the group. Further, (he) said that after killing Muller, they stopped at a vacant lot in (Barangay) Nabitasan, La Paz to strip off the white stickers from the Adventure. Britanico saw and confronted them so they shot Britanico to death,” read part of the NBI statement announcing its findings and the eventual filing of charges.
Britanico spotted the men while on his way home to Prime Estate Subdivision in Barangay Nabitasan after visiting his family’s Avida condominium unit in Barangay San Rafael, Mandurriao.
According to the NBI, Britanico’s wife described her husband as having a “temper for traffic violators and does not hesitate to take photographs or videos of such and post them on social media.”
Taking this into consideration, according to the investigators, the suspects may have assumed that Britanico reported their activities to the authorities when he made a call or took photos or videos of them.
“Hence, after inflicting several fatal wounds at Britanico, they took his mobile phone,” the NBI surmised.
FAMILY’S APPEAL
Assemblyman Britanico described the filing of charges against the suspects as “a welcome milestone” in his family’s quest for justice.
Administrative charges shall also be filed against the accused, said the grieving father, a lawyer.
He thanked the NBI, PRO-6 director Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan and the ICPO.
“We trust that with their assistance…Joven…will also soon be found,” said Britanico.
He added: “We continue to trust that law enforcement agencies will be able to identify and catch all involved in the gruesome crime.”
Britanico further called on anyone with information about the location of Joven and his other companions in the killing to come forward.
“Del was much loved and will never be forgotten. He was the best of us. We will not rest until all involved are brought to justice for their terrible crime,” said Britanico.
Meanwhile, the PRO-6 assured the NBI of cooperation in the prosecution of the case.
It also confirmed that Joven already had a pending administrative case for grave neglect of duty (failure to report for duty) and less grave neglect of duty (failure to undergo mandatory drug test).
PRO-6 stressed it remained committed to cleans its rank as it pursues programs on police reformation.
It appealed to the public to report to the nearest police station any information relative to the Britanico-Muller case or on any misbehaviour committed by police officers in the region.
“It saddens me to hear news like this but our reformation program must continue to ensure honest and genuine service for our countrymen,” said Pamuspusan./PN
