PNP hunts killer of 3 Besao tribesmen

By Mark Baybay and Joseph Gregorio

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Cordillera regional police office has activated a provincial special investigation task group to track down the suspect in the massacre of three Besao tribesmen last May 21.

Brig. Gen. Israel Dickson, Cordillera police chief, said in a press statement: “The case will not rest here, we still have to wait for the issuance of the warrant of arrest then implement it at all cost so as to give justice and alleviate suffering of the victims’ families, the barbaric and senseless killing of the victims have no place, we do not tolerate the acts of this murderer.”

Jansen Salibungey Gabaen, Pedro Mabiasan Sauyen and Ronnie Diosan Macayba, all from Barangay Agawa, Besao, Mountain Province, were reported missing after they went fishing in the rivers of a deep forest bordering Agawa and Barangay Baklingayan in Tubo, Abra.

Six days later, their bodies were found in Agawa. Police said the bodies had multiple hack wounds and two of them also had multiple gunshot wounds.

Dickson said the suspect, identified as Marlon Bacalli Batuli,  39, single, went into hiding after confessing the crime to barangay officials and elders of Barangay Tabacda, who advised him to surrender and face consequences of his acts.

A case of three counts of murder has been filed against him by police in court.

Meanwhile, the municipality of Sagada, a neighboring municipality of Besao, Mountain Province condemned the criminal act perpetrated by Batuli, a resident of Tubo.

In resolution numbered 54-2019 signed by all members of the Sanggunian Bayan of Sagada headed by Benjamin G Capuyan, they strongly condemned the gruesome killings and demanded justice.

In Bontoc, Mountain Province, the Provincial Peace and Order Council and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council urged speedy resolution of the killing of three natives of Besao.

In the joint PPOC-PDRRMC meeting last Thursday, Besao mayor Johnson Bantog II reported the Tubo Police Office already filed a case against a lone suspect at a trial court in Abra.

The mayor called on the PPOC through its chairman, Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr., to monitor proceedings of the case. Lacwasan assured families of his support in their fight for justice. “We are always ready to offer help within our means. I just hope and pray that the suspect will eventually surface so that the case will go on smoothly,” the governor told the mayor.

Meanwhile, a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan here said the proper venue to decide the case is the court.

Provincial IP representative Tomas Tawagen said SP members to let the case filed by the police take its course.

Tawagen was reacting to the pronouncement of Abra Vice Gov. Ronald Balao-as who, in a published news article, made the suggestion of having the case be settled by the Sangguninag Panlalawigan.

Bantog thanked groups and individuals who made position papers and sent statement of support to the bereaved families.

Days after the discovery of the killings, series of position papers calling for immediate resolution of the case flowed including those from left-leaning groups.

“Obviously it was the copies of the resolutions and statements of oneness which partially pushed the police to look into the incident on a high priority mode,” Bantog added.

Tabacda is a barangay in Tubo populated by natives of Mountain Province.

Baclingayan, the most populous sitio is occupied mostly by natives of Belwang, Sadanga.

Another sitio, Taleb, is peopled by families from northern Sagada while sitio Datalan is populated mostly by those from Agawa.

The three sitios were the hub for hunters but residents of Datalan and Taleb left their houses because of the series of military operations in the late 1980’s.  

The name of the barangay, Tabacda, is a coining of first and second letters of the names of sitios Taleb, Baclingayan and Datalan.

In Baguio City, Besao folks especially kin of the three slain men demanded the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator/s. They also denounced any form of violence or retribution against any parties suspected to be involved in the incident.

The Besao community in the city read the statement on June 22 during the prayer rally and ecumenical mass for the victims at the Cathedral of the Resurrection.

On June 20, 2019, the Tubo municipal police filed murder charges against a lone suspect from Barangay Tabacda before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Bangued, Abra.

According to the police, the filing of cases against the suspect was based on the testimonies of Barangay Pilbert Pingian and two council elders.

 The village officials said that the suspect admitted to them that he was the one who perpetrated the crime.

“His admission resulted to the early discovery of the crime and discovery of the body of the victims who were believed to be from Besao,” added the police.

However, participants in the prayer rally expressed doubts that a single individual executed the killings. In a document passed on to the attendees for signature, they manifested that the filing of murder charges against a suspect is not enough to convince the people of Besao that the police identified the real culprit.

“In consideration of the fact that the real murderers were not identified:  We call upon the Tubo Police Municipal Police Station to conduct an intensive and credible investigation on how the murders happened and to arrest the real murderers. We do not believe in “any sacrificial lamb” with an incredible story!,” the manifesto stated.

Included in the paper is their plea to the leadership of the Police Regional Office Cordillera and even the national leadership to look into the case. They said rather than ushering stability, presenting a “sacrificial lambs” may further impact the peace and order situation in the boundaries of Tubo, Abra and Besao, Mountain Province.

Having the culture of helping each other as one community, the people of Besao especially Barangay Agawa as well as those residing in Baguio who trace their roots in the town launched a fund raising campaign days after the incident.

The said fund will be distributed to the families of the three victims and for the pursuance until the resolution of the case.