ILOILO CITY — Justice is within reach for the family of a slain motorist in this city, following the surrender of a dismissed police officer who had been evading an arrest warrant for nearly four years.
In a statement issued Monday, July 6, the family of Delfin Britanico welcomed the surrender of former police officer Jerry Villanueva, calling it a significant milestone in their long pursuit of justice.
Villanueva voluntarily surrendered to Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) acting regional director BGen. Randulf Tuaño before dawn on July 5 after authorities had failed to arrest him during a controversial operation by the Philippine National Police-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) at Iloilo City Police Station 4 in Molo on July 1.
He is facing a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of Britanico on Jan. 19, 2020. The warrant of arrest against him, issued by the Regional Trial Court in Iloilo City in 2022, carries no recommended bail.
“This development marks an important milestone in our family's pursuit of justice,” the family said. “Our family's quest for justice does not end with this surrender. We look forward to the lawful arrest, prosecution, and accountability of all those responsible, including individuals who have planned, ordered, directed, carried out, covered up, or otherwise participated in the crime of the killing of Delfin.”
Delfin Britanico, 36, was shot dead while riding his yellow BMW motorcycle along Treñas Road in Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz.
Police investigators said Britanico sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body and was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
Scene of the Crime Operatives recovered six.45-caliber spent shells, three 9mm spent shells, and two deformed bullets from the crime scene.
The Britanico family maintained that the victim was an innocent bystander.
“Delfin Britanico was simply taking a Sunday drive on his motorcycle when his life was tragically cut short. He was a collateral victim after an extrajudicial killing planned and implemented by police officers minutes before he came across them,” the family said.
“No innocent person should ever lose his life under such circumstances. No Filipino should be murdered with impunity,” they added.
Villanueva was charged together with two other co-accused in connection with the killing, but the charges against the two others were later dismissed.
Questions remain
Despite Villanueva's surrender, the Britanico family raised questions that the dismissed policeman was allegedly still participating in police operations and had remained in possession of his government-issued firearm years after being removed from the service.
“We also raise the question why a dismissed policeman with a pending criminal case was illegally involved in police operations and still has in his possession his service firearm after years of dismissal,” the family said.
Villanueva surrendered his government-issued Taurus TS9 service pistol and one magazine to PRO-6 before being turned over to the custody of Iloilo City Police Station 1.
Tuaño said that during questioning after his surrender, Villanueva allegedly denied claims that he had been assisting Police Station 4 in anti-illegal drug operations or that he had recently visited the station before the IMEG operation.
Villanueva previously served with the former Regional Drug Enforcement Unit before going absent without official leave (AWOL).
He was dismissed from the police service in 2022 following the issuance of the murder warrant.
Asked why the firearm remained in Villanueva's possession despite his dismissal from the service, Tuaño said standard procedures require dismissed or AWOL personnel to return all issued firearms.
“Once a police officer goes AWOL, a demand letter is issued directing him to surrender his service firearm. If he fails to do so, he may also face a separate case for malversation of public property,” Tuaño said.
Tuaño said Villanueva's surrender was the culmination of intelligence-driven operations and coordination with various stakeholders.
“While we can say he voluntarily surrendered, that surrender was also the result of intelligence-driven operations and coordination. One of PRO-6's strategies is to identify people who can help us communicate with a wanted person and eventually convince him to surrender,” he said.
Although Villanueva remained at large for several years, Tuaño said the surrender demonstrated improvements in PRO-6's intelligence gathering and police visibility under his leadership.
Station chief won’t be relieved
Tuaño, meanwhile, has ruled out relieving the chief of Iloilo City Police Station 4 in Molo despite the ongoing investigations into the controversial raid of IMEG, saying there is no administrative basis to remove him from his post.
He said Station 4 commander Capt. Ryan Christ Inot was not the subject of the July 1 IMEG operation, which sought to arrest a dismissed police officer wanted for murder.
“Administrative relief is applied when the police officer himself is involved in a particular crime. In this case, (Inot) was not the suspect in that particular crime,” he said.
Tuaño said immediately relieving Inot would only demoralize the police personnel in Western Visayas.
“If we do that, what will happen to the morale of our operatives in Western Visayas? They feel aggrieved because of what happened," he said.
He, however, assured the public that PRO-6 would not tolerate wrongdoing.
“The PRO-6 will stand behind you as long as you are doing what is right. But if you commit mistakes and the allegations against you are proven true, we cannot help you if what you did was wrong,” he said.
Two investigations underway
Two separate investigations are being conducted regarding IMEG’s operation: that of the PRO-6 and the National Police Commission 6 (Napolcom-6).
The PRO-6 inquiry is focused on possible operational lapses, administrative accountability, and coordination issues surrounding the IMEG operation.
The PRO-6 chief said investigators are examining conflicting claims over whether IMEG properly coordinated the operation before entering Police Station 4.
Police Station 4 has maintained that no prior coordination was made with either the station or the Iloilo City Police Office, while IMEG insists that coordination had been undertaken.
“We will determine whether coordination was actually made, whether it was simultaneous with higher headquarters, or whether it was done only as an afterthought,” Tuaño said.
He declined to set a strict deadline for the completion of the investigation, saying rushing the process could compromise the quality of the findings, although PRO-6 hopes to finish its inquiry within the week.
Napolcom-6, meanwhile, is separately investigating allegations that dismissed police personnel were being harbored or allowed to participate in police operations.
Tuaño said allegations of operational lapses, if any, should be treated as opportunities for improvement rather than reasons for discouragement.
He stressed that the PRO-6 is looking beyond the controversy and focusing on institutional improvements while awaiting the results of the investigation.
“I've been in the service for a long time. We no longer take these things personally when there are operational lapses, if there are any. I told our personnel not to dwell on what happened or be overly emotional about it. Instead, we should focus on the lessons we can learn because, after all, we are one PNP,” he said.
Anonymous letter to be verified
Tuaño also said PRO-6 will verify the contents of an anonymous letter sent to the media accusing personnel of Police Station 4 of abusing police operations and planting evidence in its anti-drug operations.
Although unsigned and without an identified author, Tuaño said the allegations warrant verification because they involve issues already under investigation.
“Even though the letter is anonymous and unsigned, PRO-6 will still give it the opportunity to be verified and investigated. Normally, anonymous letters are not immediately acted upon in administrative proceedings. However, because this concerns Police Station 4, we will give it special attention,” Tuaño said.