By JEFFREY DAMICOG
JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday assured the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is ready to join ongoing probe over the death of Ozamiz City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Edmundo Pintac.
This as Guevarra said he will let the Philippine National Police (PNP) take first crack at the investigation into the killing of the magistrate who is handling the drug cases of Ozamiz Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog and her brother Reynaldo Jr.
“We’ll let PNP take on the investigation muna. Standby ang NBI,” said Guevarra in a text message.
The Supreme Court (SC), through Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro, has already condemned the killing of Pintac on Monday.
“I’m calling on the Philippine National Police to exert all means and efforts to apprehend the perpetrators at the soonest possible time,” she said in a statement.
“I have also instructed the court administrator (Jose Midas P. Marquez) to coordinate with all law enforcement officers to bring to justice those responsible for this crime,” she added.
Pintac was gunned down at about 4:20 p.m. Monday in Purok 2-B, Barangay Banadero in Ozamiz City while on his way home.
In 2017, Pintac had denied the request of the Parojinog siblings to attend the funeral of their parents, then Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo “Aldong” Parojinog who was killed along with his wife Susan and 13 others in a police raid in Barangay San Roque, Ozamiz City, on July 30, 2017.
The raid yielded a substantial amount of illegal drugs and an armory of firearms.
Meantime, Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo Año has created a task force that would lead to the immediate arrest of the suspects including the mastermind of Pintac’s killing.
Upon learning about Pintac’s killing during a recent Cabinet meeting, President Duterte ordered the DILG and the PNP to leave no stones unturned for the immediate arrest of the perpetuators.
Citing security concerns, the Department of Justice had requested the Supreme Court to hear the cases against Parojinogs in Quezon City instead of conducting the trial in Ozamiz. (With a report from Chito A. Chavez)