MANILA, Philippines Multiple murder charges were filed Thursday by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against 13 police officers

s involved in the killing of suspected gambling lord Vic Siman and 12 others in Atimonan, Quezon province on January 6. Eleven soldiers, meanwhile, were dropped from the list, according to the 43-page resolution signed by prosecutor general Claro Arellano of the Gumaca regional trial court in Quezon. Philippine Daily Inquirer earlier reported that the Atimonan shootout was a joint operation by the police and military targeting only Siman but led to the killing of other people, mostly police officers. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the rubout was a result of rivalry in juetenga numbers racket between the group of Siman and a certain Ka Tita. Superintendent Hansel Marantan, one of the police officers charged, was allegedly protecting Ka Tita. The killings took place at the second checkpoint along the national highway in Atimonan, Quezon province. Charged were: Superintendent Hansel Marantan Superintendent Ramon Balauag Chief Inspector Grant Gollod Senior Inspector John Paolo Carracedo Senior Inspector Timoteo Orig Senior Police Officer 3 Joselito de Guzman Senior Police Officer 1Arturo Sarmiento Senior Police Officer 1Carlo Cataquiz Police Officer 3 Eduardo Oronan Police Officer 2 Nelson Indal Police Officer 2 Al Bhazar Jailani Police Officer 1 Wryan Sardea Police Officer 1 Rodel Talento alias Rodel Tolentino Charged with obstruction of justice were Senior Inspector John Paolo Carracedo and Army Lieutenant Rico Tagure. The resolution dropped the charges of obstruction of justice for insufficiency of evidence against the following Philippine National Police (PNP) Quezon Crime Laboratory Personnel: Chief Superintendent Zaide Abrera, Inspector Dickson Mercado, Senior Police Officer 1 Meldy Arojo, Senior Police Officer 1 Analiza Burcelango, Police Officer 3 Nestor Abuan, Police Officer 3Archie Avila and Police Officer 2 Bayani Gonzales. Cleared were the following: Chief Superintendent James Melad Lieutenant Colonel Monico Abang Captain Erwin Macalinao First Lieutenant Rico Tagure Corporal Rogelio Tejares Private First Class Ricky Jay Borja Private First Class Michael Franco Private First Class Gil Gallego Private First Class Melvin Lumalang Private First Class Alvin Roque Pabon Private Emergin Barrete Private Marc Zaldy Docdoc DOJ panels findings The DOJ panel said that all elements of the crime of murder were present in the case. It said the evidence was clear that all the accused policemen, except for Melad, who was not at the scene during the slaughter, fired upon Siman and his group who were in two Mitsubishi Monteros. And although several persons fired shots at the Siman group, the act was considered independent but in concert with each other. The panel said that the policemen, except for Melad, plotted to eliminate the victims. The plan to eliminate the group of Vic Siman became apparent when respondent Marantan, together with respondents Gollod and Balauag, put up a three-layered checkpoint, which in the first place, was highly irregular and non-conforming to common and established procedures on checkpoints, the panel said. It said the NBI was able to provide credible evidence that some of the victims were shot at close range and that forensic and chemical examinations showed there was no possibility that the occupants of the Monteros could have fired from within the vehicles. The panel also took note that the actions of the policemen after the shooting strongly signify their intention to muddle up the evidence in this case to mislead and/or influence the result of the investigation, and show their earlier premeditated plan to kill the occupants of the Monteros. The complaint against Melad was dismissed because the panel said the evidence failed to establish his participation in the conspiracy. The police superintendent was not present during the shooting, it said, as it thumbed down the claim that Melads signing of an operation plan was tantamount to knowledge of the plan to kill them.

Also, Melad did not know the identities of the targets of the checkpoints because Marantan told him only there was an armed group being pursued but not their identities. The concealment of the identities of the targets is a manifestation that Marantan did not want Melad to know about their operation. In fact, such concealment proves that Melad is not part of the conspiracy, it said. The charges against the soldiers were dismissed because, the panel said, the evidence did not show that they were part of the conspiracy to eliminate the victims. In fact, respondents-AFP were surprised and bewildered when, after the shooting incident, respondent Carracedo started taking the firearms of the victims and firing them into the air at different directions manifest(ing) that their knowledge regarding the plan to kill the victims (was) limited, if they had any knowledge at all, the panel said. The panel said while the soldiers did fire at the victims, it was because they were contacted to support the operation of the police, which dictated the operation. Perhaps if they were in conspiracy with the police elements , they could have just easily kept to themselves what respondent Carracedo did. Their electing to reveal the irregularity indicates for us a clear conscience on the part of these AFP personnel, the panels resolution said. Suspicion that these soldiers were in cahoots with the policemen were erased when they admitted firing their firearms, unlike their police counterparts. The panel also concluded that the killing of the victims was attended by the qualifying circumstances of evident premeditation, taking advantage of superior strength, treachery and with the aid of armed men. By evident premeditation, the panel cited the fact that the policemen put up the checkpoints so as not to miss their objects and to prevent outsiders from witnessing the killings. The panel said obstruction of justice charges should be filed against Carracedo and Tagure. It agreed with the NBI claim that Carracedo was found to have tampered with or altered the crime scene when he willfully and deliberately fired the firearms of the victims in the air or in different directions and then returned them to where he got them. Likewise, it said that it found Carracedos acts part and parcel of the scheme to murder the victims. Tagure, on the other hand, was charged because he broke the glass windows of the two Monteros and opened the door of one of the vehicles so that Carracedo would be able to take the firearms there and fire them. With a report from Christine O. Avendao, Philippine Daily Inquirer Related story:

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ANILA (UPDATE 2) - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed multiple murder charges against police Supt. Hansel Marantan and 12 other policemen in connection with the Atimonan, Quezon rubout incident last January which left 13 people dead. The charges were filed before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Gumaca, Quezon Thursday morning. Charged along with Marantan, the alleged brains behind the operation, were: Supt. Ramon Balauag C/Insp Grant Gollod S/Insp John Paolo Carracedo S/Insp Timoteo Orig SPO3 Joselito De Guzman SPO1 Carlo Cataquiz SPO1 Arturo Sarmiento PO3 Eduardo Oronan PO2 Nelson Indal PO2 Al BhazarJailani PO1 Wryan Sardea PO1 Rodel Talento aka Rodel Tolentino Marantan's group set up check points in Atimonan purportedly after receiving information that a syndicate was passing through, and ended up firing at the victims' SUVs.

The charges for mutiple murder were dismissed against then CALABARZON Police chief C/Supt. James Andres Melad; and Lt. Col. Monico Abang, then chief of the Army Special Forces Battalion, which provided support to the police contingent. In a 43-page resolution, the DOJ said there was insufficient evidence against them. The charges for multiple murder were also dismissed against the following soldiers from the Army Special Forces Battalion: Cpt. Edwin Macalinao Lt. Rico Tagure Cpl. Rogelio Tejares PFC Ricky Jay Borja PFC Michael Franco PFC Gilm Gallego PFC Melvin Lumalang PFC Alvin Roque Pabon Pvt Emergin Barrete Pvt Marc Zaldy Docdoc The DOJ, through the panel of prosecutors that conducted the preliminary investigation of the case, said that "[t]he respondents PNP personnel, except for respondent Melad, conspired and confederated with each other to eliminate the victims." The DOJ upheld the findings of the NBI that the operation was intended to "eliminate the group of Vic Siman," the alleged leader of a criminal syndicate. "The killing was attended by the qualifying circumstances of evident premeditation, taking advantage of superior strength, treachery and with the aid of armed men," the resolution read. As far as the soldiers are concerned, the DOJ said it was undeniable that they fired at the 2 SUVs that carried the victims, however, "[t]he evidence at hand do not indicate that the respondents AFP personnel were part of the conspiracy to eliminate the victims." The soldiers "were merely in support when the police officers had begun firing," the DOJ said. "Their participation in the said incident does not indicate any overt act to justify that they are in conspiracy with respondents PNP," the resolution read. Charges of obstruction of justice against the following PNP Crime Laboratory personnel were also junked for insufficiency of evidence: C/Insp Zaide Abrera, P/Insp Dickson Mercado, SPO1 Meldy Arojo, SPO1 Analiza Burcelango, PO3 Nestor Abuan, PO3 Archie Avila, and PO2 Bayani Gonzales. The DOJ said that their "withdrawal of cooperation" from the NBI fact-finding investigation "does not amount to obstruction of justice." The NBI claimed that the withdrawal of cooperation of said personnel left the (NBI) with some technical problems such as mismatching of the victims' firears, and other discrepancies. However, the DOJ found probable cause to charge Carracedo and Tagure with obstruction of justice. The DOJ said Carracedo "willfully and deliberately fired the firearms of the dead victims" while Tagure is a "principal by indispensable cooperation" when he broke the windows of the SUVs upon Carracedo's orders. The resolution was signed by the members of the investigating panel, namely: Sr. Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, chairman, and Asst. State Prosecutors Hazel Valdez and Niven Canlapan, Dasmarinas City Prosecutor Vimar Barcellano, and Prosecution Attorney Cesar Angelo Chavez III. The panel's findings was approved by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.