Just investigate

When the former head of Barangay 35, Marianito Yelo was apprehended for illegal slaughter of pigs, he was reported to have said that his prohibited butcher shop was with the permission of Monico Puentevella. He claimed later that he was told by an apprehending officer to implicate Puentevella. Naturally, Puentevella said this is politics and he will investigate.

The police officer reported to have given the idea to Yelo denied that he did. Indeed, why would a police officer assigned in Iloilo give such an idea to Yelo? Puentevella supporters claim otherwise. They say it was Councilor Carl Lopez who instigated Yelo to implicate Puentevella. That does not make sense.

What makes sense is that Yelo dropped the name of Puentevella to justify his illegal operation. This was the same excuse of the illegal butchers in Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company compound.

What is funny here is that the investigation centers on why Yelo was reported to have mentioned Puentevella and not the illegal slaughter in that barangay without the police or barangay officials knowing about it. Even the Bacolod City Legal Enforcement team did not know what was going on when this is their responsibility to constantly check. The legally instituted slaughter house, AVM Bernardo Engineering, has been complaining to the mayor of the rampant illegal butchering of animals but the City Legal Office either does not want to do its job, or it is ordered not to do its job.

Councilor Carl Lopez had to seek assistance from PNP Manila to secure a warrant for the arrest of the alleged violators. As chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Markets, he has the duty to check the state of the meat sold in our markets. Were they slaughtered in accordance with health standards? The well-being of the people is at stake, the reason that the city has this Task Force to insure that animals are killed in accordance with city ordinances.

I also wonder why the Bacolod police did not know what was  going on in that barangay. Does it have a monitoring system? We must note that the pigs squeal to high heavens when being slaughtered. Nobody in that highly populated barangay heard them? What about the stench from the pigsty? People there did not smell anything foul? How about the barangay captain? He heard or smelled nothing? Surely people there can see pigs being carried in the barangay and pork brought out.

It would seem that the entire barangay, the tanods, and the Bacolod police have played the Three Monkeys Game – see nothing, hear nothing and speak nothing. I can understand this stance of the barangay, but not the police and the Task Force Botagoy. Is this silence the reason that the Bacolod Police Director is being rewarded with a regular status?

The Regional Police Director should take this into account considering that this case had to be directed from Camp Crame. That, in effect, bypassed the Bacolod police and indicative of lack of trust.

Remember that illegal slaughter of carabaos at the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company compound? The suspects there said they believed they had the permission “of somebody up there”. Indeed, the city claimed there was no such permission and an investigation was conducted, or so the statement from the city said. But nothing came out of the reported investigation, if there was such an inquiry at all.  Was there a case filed? Well, it is another of those “investigate and forget” tactic of the city officials.

It seems there was no investigation because the CLO head of this task force, Rey Demisana is still there on the same post. No case was filed, as far as we know, and Demisana is still unaware of what was going on in Barangay Alijis as he was with the BMMC case.  This set of circumstance tends to make us believe that indeed there is “permission from the top.”

Who is “up there” is anybody’s guess but surely he or she must be influential enough to prevent any disciplinary action.

Then we have another case of “just investigate” response when city functionaries are caught. This case concerns the ukay-ukay at the city plaza. Remember the statement of Puentevella that he would investigate? Well, where is the investigation report? It seems there was no investigation. The tactic appears the same “investigate and forget”. Indeed, soon people forget. But others remember.

This time the National Bureau of Investigation took interest and conducted the inquiry. It did not forget to do its duty.

Let’s continue tomorrow.* 

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