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AGENTS of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) may be invited to shed light on the killing of four Rolex watch store robbery suspects in a seaside apartment in sitio Lutaw Marikina, barangay Estaca, Compostela town.
Alejandro Alonzo of the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) director said yesterday that their office sent personnel to the area to interview witnesses.
He said they might invite the agents who were involved in the operation.
NBI-7 Executive Officer Ernesto Macabare said they welcomed the probe because it was part of CHR?s mandate.
Joint NBI agents from Manila and Cebu went to the apartment in Compostela to serve arrest warrants against two of the gang members.
But the suspects allegedly fought back and a firefight ensued.
Suspicion of a rubout was raised after a caretaker claimed that only two checked into the apartment yet four suspects were killed by the NBI.
The Police Regional Office (PRO-7) was also ?slightly insulted? by the NBI's failure to coordinate with them.
Senior Supt. Marcelo Garbo, PRO-7 deputy regional director for operations said yesterday the NBI central office only gave verbal instructions to them.
?There were lapses committed by the NBI and there were discrepancies of operational standard,? he added.
Still, Garbo said the investigation conducted by the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) on the incident was not premised on claims of a rubout.
He also said the Compostela police precinct and the Cebu provincial police were ordered to explain by Camp Crame concering their failure to immediately report the case.
The Compostela police along with media were barred from entering the apartment after the shooting.
In the meantime, a public school principal identified one of the robbery suspects as being responsible for his father's murder in 1996.
The man, who refused to be identified, brought an arrest warrant against Rene Batiancila whom he identified as Rene Hijapon.
He said Rene and Ritchie Hijapon, one of the slain suspects, were cousins.
The school principal said Rene has a standing arrest warrant issued for robbery with homicide. Rene and three other men reportedly tried to rob his 49-year-old father but shot him dead instead.
