Kiltepan open to public /Crimes in Mt Province

HAPPY WEEKEND

Gina Dizon

SAGADA,Mountain Province -- Businessman  and lot owner Wilson Capuyan assured  elders from  eastern barangays and tourist guides, inn keepers  and  other community members  who attended a recent gathering  here that  the Kiltepan  view site remains open to the public.

KIltepan view site located in the eastern part of the tourist town is used as a picnic ground and frequently visited by visitors due to its perfect view of the Kiltepan rice terraces and early morning sunrise.

The site is part of a two hectare property bought by Capuyan from former congressman Alfredo Lamen in 1993 and introduced improvements in 2008 including a renovated telecom tower. Additional three hectares was bought by Capuyan from  a certain Sumedca and immediate heirs of Lamen where locates a reconstructed gate April this year built from concrete materials from earlier  wooden materials built some years ago.

Capuyan said the gate was reconstructed  to give more  durable structure  to prevent cows from entering the other side of the fence and prevent theft as construction materials had been stolen some days before building  of said gate.

The reconstructed gate was demolished by some barangay officials of  Antadao, Kilong and Tetep-an of Kiltepan  and other identified individuals  on May 22.  

The incident is a separate case to be tackled, Capuyan said. 

The Kiltepan view site  was  declared picnic ground and view deck by the  Sangguniang Bayan in 2009 and referred to  the SangguniangPanlalawigan but  the latter referred back to the Sagada SB to resolve  any land dispute or questions on ownership.

Capuyan said town officials did not consult him before the SB passed the ordinance. In response to an urging that Capuyan donate the view site to the public, Capuyan suggested that Sagada mayor Eduardo Latawan who comes from Kiltepan donate some of his property for a park.

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In Bontoc, a talk with Investigator Romualdo  Ngina of  provincial police had him  appealing to the public  to  help in solving crimes that happen within their immediate communities.

Investigation on the brutal  killing of  college student  22  year old Sarah Becyagen last year  attests to this. One late night in  Sept. 22,  Sarah was  seen with two friends having some drinks somewhere near the public market.

They left the place before 9 pm and  were seen  near  the vicinity of  Land Bank-Bontoc  located near a  police outpost and the Circle where most people congregate.  One of the friends left earlier leaving two- Sarah and another  continuing their  chitchat.  

Sometime before 11 p.m,  Sarah proceeded home  alone to Samoki having to walk along the stretch of the Samoki Bridge over the Chico River.  She may not have walked the long stretch of the bridge as she was found near the entrance the following day,  mangled  with contusions all over her body and strangled to death.

Two suspects were caught and detained at the provincial jail and eventually released  because there was no  evidence  strong enough to  pin down them for a full blown trial.

The father of the victim, Agustin Becyagen forwarded the case to the National Bureau of Investigation. This obviously means  Becyagen was not  satisfied with the  investigation of the police in Bontoc.  A recent tralk with  Ngina yielded no update yet from the NBI.  PadiTom  Palpal,  uncle of the victim can only sigh and say give it to the Lord where  police can’t  come up with satisfying findings.

Ngina says one major difficulty in investigation work is the non- cooperation of witnesses. Where the people are afraid to come out or would not want to talk for whatever reason that may be, the police face flimsy leads  to solve a case.

Gruesome crimes  such as  the Sarah Becyagen case takes a similar development in  the Panoyo case. Forty seven year old Elmo Panoyo from Bangaan, Sagada was  gunned down  October 30 along the Besao-Sagada  road  above  Danum Lake. 

A complaint was filed by the police after sometime that the widow of the victim was not filing any case.  Case has been recommended for dismissal as there is not enough investigation to pin down  suspect  with the witness, a nine year old child of the  victim having inconsistent  replies of recognizing the suspect. 

Judge William Dominguez recommended that the joint  forces of both Besao and Bontoc  PNP do further investigation on one angle of the case- the alleged love triangle- of Panoyo’s wife, DiklawanPanoyo and the victim’s friend,  David Bibit Jr- as implied in the complaint itself.

While it may be  that the police  lacked  intensive  probe on the love triangle angle,  Ngina also laments the lack of police funds to pursue investigation on specific cases.  

Again, much is  desired from the public- family members, relatives, friends, neighbours,  anyone- to  report whatever  suspicious and  hard evidence they know  of a certain case to the police.

We revisit the Kenneth  Sawad case.  Seventeen year old Kenneth Sawad,a fourth year student of Pasil National High School  was brutally murdered March 21, 2011 and  buried in a shallow grave at BatongBuhay, Balatoc allegedly by suspect Leslie Alicog from Balatoc, Pasil, Kalinga. Kenneth’s parents are from Balbalan, Kalinga and Bontoc making him Kalinga-Bontoc mestizo.

Background story as noted from  interviews note that  Kenneth helped a friend in the race for SangguniangKabataan chairmanship.  Another  friend  joined in the race.  Both are  Kenneth’s friends.  The friend  whom he helped  won the post.  The  rival’s  father is the suspect.

A complaint was  filed against suspect Alicog.  Same time, the local government unit of Pasil  organized Task Force Kenneth Sawad composed of  LGU officials, Pasil police aided by the Philippine Army, and elders to aid police in catching  the culprit, bring him to justice and  help in resolving the case. The  task force failed.  Up to now, the suspect is at large.

In the cultural resolution of the case,  the presence of the accused is demanded by  Bontoc  elders  to Balatoc-Pasil elders/negotiators  to  surface  the accused  for the necessary  negotiation.  The latest  talks  September last year. There are no scheduled talks yet.

The status of the suspect being  “at large” has the answer from the immediate family members and village mates of suspect and those who know where the suspect is.

Where  culture,  tribal loyalties  maybe strong and  personal relationships equally strong reasons why suspects  are not  caught and  witnesses don’t come out to  talk on whatever they know about the case,  it takes  courage  to transcend  personal  ties and prejudices and  objectively  look at  the justice angle of a crime done, that  evil acts shall not  happen again; and  revisit  at what is cultural  that  in our culture too,  justice  abounds.

So we know of the dap-ay  and  the ator and other indigenous ways of realizing justice by punishing the guilty one to bring justice and peace to the victim, aggrieved family, and communities- both where the culprit and the victim comes from.