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Sinas vows justice for Annayo

Debold M. Sinas
PNP chief, General Debold M. Sinas on Monday night visited the wake of slain former Jolo police chief, Lieutenant Colonel Walter Annayo and vowed justice for him. He is shown talking with Annayo’s widow Alma and Cordillera police director, Brigadier Gen. R’win S. Pagkalinawan. Photo courtesy of PNP-PIO

PHILIPPINE National Police chief, General Debold M. Sinas on Monday night motored to Baguio City to visit the wake of slain Lieutenant Colonel Walter Annayo and assure his family of a speedy investigation into the ambush-slay of the former Jolo police chief.

During his talk with Annayo’s widow Alma, the PNP chief told the latter that he has already tasked the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to step into the case and assist the local police investigators in ensuring that justice for the murdered police official will be served.

He also informed Mrs. Annayo of the progress of investigation into the case being conducted by Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.

The PNP chief also extended a financial assistance to the Annayo family and assured expeditious release of all death benefits due the deceased officer who left behind his wife and two young children. Gen. Sinas and company returned to Camp Crame early morning yesterday.

According to PNP spokesman, Brigadier Gen. Ildebrandi N. Usana, the top cop instructed the PRO-BAR director, Brig. Gen. Samuel Rodriguez to put special attention to the investigation of the case “not only because the victim was a ranking police officer, but also because his death is vulnerable to undue speculation that will only serve to muddle the investigation.”

“My appeal is for everyone to please allow the investigation to proceed and to avoid entertaining baseless theories and unverified information, after all, our common objective is to find out the truth and serve the ends of justice,” Gen. Sinas said.

“I am confident that sooner or later there will be a significant breakthrough in the investigation, perhaps a solid lead that will take us closer to the logical conclusion of this case,” he added.

Lt. Col. Annayo was shot dead by still unidentified gunmen in Maguindanao last Saturday. His killing came four months after he was relieved from his post on reasons of command responsibility after his men shot dead four Army soldiers in Jolo last June 29.

Killed in the shooting incident were Army Major Marvin Indammog, Captain Irwin Managuelod, Sergeant Jaime Velasco and Corporal Abdal Asula.

The Sulu provincial police office initially said the cops claimed self-defense, but later in a Senate investigation, the officers admitted they were not sure who fired the first shots.

Nine policemen involved in the incident were charged with four counts of murder and ‘planting’ of evidence by the National Bureau of Investigation. All are now under Camp Crame custody.

“Hindi pa namin alam kung me kinalaman sa incident yung sa Army case. Yung mga policemen-suspects ay nasa crame at low morale sila dahil namatay ang chief of police nila.. Ang point here is not directly involved ang COP sa murder case ng apat. He was just relieved due to command responsibility. But as of now, the PRO-BAR has no update sa ongoing investigation nila,” the PNP chief told Camp Crame newsmen on Monday.