Investigate Almonte
by Herman Tiu Laurel
Two weeks ago, news of the explosive revelation from the Dacer parish priest hit the newspapers. Fr. Baldestamon of the Sun Valley parish church came forward to make public overtures he heard from Ramos henchman Joe Almonte to the Dacer children a short time after their father disappeared—that he could negotiate for his release provided Dacer is immediately shipped to the US and the family continues to mourn like he had never been found. Why has NBI chief Reynaldo Wycoco not called in Almonte to find out more about this crucial angle?
We are now being bombarded on a daily basis by headlines on “killers” of Dacer having surfaced and confessed.
However, when read, the full story identifies them only as “suspects.” Before this, an Inquirer headline tagged Estrada as the culprit behind Dacer’s disappearance and presumed murder. Department of Justice Secretary Nani Perez had to clarify later that there was no factual basis at all for the headline. The “uncivil Society” media has really been going amuck. I suspect it is to deflect attention from the Fr. Baldestamon bombshell involving Almonte—and Ramos.
Fr. Baldestamon’s revelation was brought to the surface in one of the newspaper columns of Bishop Ted Bacani. Last week, I read a letter-to-the-editor from Ramos to Bacani, outlining his response to the Bacani column. It was a very lame letter recalling his expressions of concern for Dacer’s disappearance, citing such inane publications as Customsweek. Readers will recall that it was precisely Ramos’ dubiously premature and hammed up concern, when Dacer’s disappearance was not even an established fact yet, that triggered suspicions about a Ramos hand in the abduction.
The story is now told to close friends by the Dacer children, Ampy and Sabina, that the Ramos visit to Dacer’s office on that fateful day of the disappearance was very uncharacteristic. In the many years of Dacer and Ramos’ professional dealings, never once did Ramos visit Dacer’s office. But on the day of Dacer’s kidnapping Ramos did, and after only an hour of waiting he started making it too obvious he was concerned—by calling media about his alarm over Dacer’s disappearance.
It could have just been traffic, a flat tire or engine trouble, a sudden family emergency, a bum stomach, an extended breakfast meeting, or a hundred other small possibilities that delayed Dacer for an hour. With cell phone service the way it is today, and service providers undermining each other by delaying interconnections or with cell sites jammed or down, an hour’s wait to get a cell phone connection happens quite frequently. So, delayed cell phone contact is not sufficient reason to panic and call media.
The scenario is too much like a no-smoking room with a tell-tale tobacco stick.
The government has produced one suspect after another. Each time they bring up these suspects, more questions come up. The original duo, who were alleged to have disposed of the bodies, were themselves blocked from seeing their lawyer, Atty. Ric Valmonte. The subsequent “confessed” participants in the Dacer case have, according to newspaper reports, reportedly been arrested without warrant and “subjected to physical torture.” All these alleged violations of the suspects’ rights, which will have serious bearing on the credibility of the investigations, must be looked into.
The NBI, which is assigned to the Dacer case, must preserve and protect its integrity and credibility at all times. Unfortunately, former general Wycoco is not delivering on this fundamental duty he has to the organization. He is leaving too many stones, nay, boulders, unturned on the trail of the Dacer case—lying so in plain sight of everyone who cares to see. But he is apparently deliberately turning his eyes to where there are no rocks and boulders, content to follow the trail where red herrings are being tossed farther and farther away.
Now that the Almonte angle has been raised by Fr. Baldestamon, Gen. Wycoco is obliged to invite both to be interviewed. The story must be officially verified, and Almonte’s side should be looked closely into. The Dacer children must also be asked, to crosscheck the parish priest’s story. But foremost among these actions is this—send a summon to Almonte. This Rasputin of Ramos has some explaining to do. If he gets himself off cleanly, we won’t raise the issue again. While he avoids the Almonte matter, nothing he does will be credible.
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Reynaldo T. Berroya is now PNP intelligence chief, despite the burden of notoriety he carries. Isn’t there anybody else among the hundreds of officers in the PNP? With PNP chief Mendoza (whom Tsinoy kidnap victims have tagged as party to their abductions, and charged by Carina Agarao of suspicious leniency to culprits in her husband’s murder) the gangster image of the PNP leadership is complete. Lacson’s PAOCTF enjoyed infinitely higher credibility than what they have today.
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