Retired Navy officer in Pestaño case maintains innocence

A Navy officer implicated in the 1995 murder of Ensign Philip Andrew Pestaño maintained his innocence Monday, stressing that Pestaño committed suicide and was not killed.

Retired Capt. Ricardo Ordoñez said he is wondering why the case was revived by the Ombudsman when three investigative agencies – the Western Police District (now Manila Police District) , the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group – had already cleared him and nine other Navy officers and men linked to the case.

“We are all innocent of the charge…It is really a suicide. It’s wrong to say that he was killed,” said Ordoñez, the commanding officer of the BRP Bacolod City where Pestaño was assigned as a deck officer and where his body was found on Sept. 27, 1995.

Last week, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales reversed an earlier decision saying that Pestaño, who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy two years before his death, committed suicide, and ordered that the 10 officers be charged with the crime, almost 17 years after the incident.
 
Pestaño’s lifeless body was found in his cabin by his fellow Navy personnel with a gunshot wound in the head while the ship was en route to the Navy headquarters in Manila from Sangley Point in Cavite.
 
Apart from Ordoñez, the other accused in the case are Cdr. Reynaldo Lopez, Lt. Cdr. Luidegar Casis, Lt. Cdr. Alfrederick Alba, Lt. Cdr. Joselito Colico, Hospital Man 2 Welmenio Aquino,  Machinery Repairman 2 Sandy Miranda, Lt. Cdr. Ruben Roque, Petty Officer 1 Carlito Amoroso and Petty Officer 2 Mil Leonor.
 
Lopez, Casis, Alba, Colico, Aquino and Miranda, who are still in the active service, have been relieved and recalled by the Navy leadership to the Navy headquarters so they can face the charges.
 
On the other hand, Ordoñez, Roque, Amoroso and Leonor have either retired from the service or have been subjected to honorable discharge, thus the military no longer has a control over them.

In its 21-page resolution, the Ombudsman said Pestaño was killed because he opposed the use of a Navy vessel to transport illegal lumber for Vice Admiral Pio Carranza, then Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy.
 
Ordoñez, who retired from the service in 2005 upon reaching the retirement age of 56, sought to dispute insinuations that they conspired to kill Pestaño. He said Pestaño committed suicide because of a problem with a woman.

He also denied that they were involved in illegal logging.

“There is no illegal logging there, the lumber have papers. They were intended for the flag officer in command. Is that illegal logging? It may be illegal transport but this is not illegal [logging]. I was cleared by the Ombudsman on this,” Ordoñez said. — KBK, GMA News
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January 16, 2012 7:47pm
GMA News Online
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Conspiracy in ’95 murder of Pestaño unearthed

The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday ruled there was conspiracy to murder Ensign Philip Andrew Pestaño who was found dead inside a Navy cargo ship in 1995.

As a result, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales reversed the June 2009 joint resolution that dismissed the criminal and administrative charges filed by Pestaño’s parents Felipe and Evelyn Pestaño for the murder of their son.

In a 21-page joint order that granted the Pestaño spouses’ motion for reconsideration, Morales said there was probable cause to indict Naval Captain Ricardo Ordoñez and nine other naval officials for murder.

She also found the respondents administratively liable for grave misconduct and ordered them dismissed from the service.

The nine other naval officials are Cmdr. Reynaldo Lopez, HM2 Welmenio Aquino, LCmdr. Luidegar Casis, LCmdr. Alfrederick Alba, MR2 Sandy Miranda, LCmdr. Joselito Colico, LCmdr. Ruben Roque, Petty Officer 1st Class Carlito Amoroso and Petty Officer 2nd Class Mil Leonor Igcasan.

In the same order, the Ombudsman ruled out the suicide theory as she found prima facie case of conspiracy to commit murder.

The anti-graft office had established a strong case against the respondents after taking a hard look at it, including the additional evidence unearthed in the military investigations which were made available to the complainants 10 years after the death of Pestaño.

The Ombudsman said a case of murder was immediately filed against the 10 Navy officers before the Sandiganbayan.

Prior to his death, Pestaño was assigned to work on the BRP Bacolod City, a supply ship that was allegedly transporting weapons, illegally cut logs and even drugs.

Pestaño had threatened to expose the illegal activities in the Navy but was later found dead in his cabin on board a Navy cargo ship on Sept. 27, 1995.

The Navy declared his death a suicide but his family insisted he was killed and filed murder charges against its officials.

In August 2010, then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez dismissed the murder charges for lack of evidence.

Pestaño’s father in a radio interview after learning about the Ombudsman’s filing of murder case against the 10 respondents expressed elation about the new development regarding his son’s murder.

“We are thankful that the truth about our son’s death is now coming out. It was not a suicide but a murder. From the very beginning, that is what we know,” he has been quoted as saying.

He said there was a massive cover-up in the investigation of his son’s killing, with officials from the Armed Forces, Philippine Navy and the police all saying that Pestaño’s death was a suicide.

Pestano’s father said the evidence against those who murdered his son is very strong.

“It’s not finally but it has been a long period for the real justice to prevail,” he said in the same television interview.

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By Arlie O. Calalo

01/12/2012

The Daily Tribune

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4 dead, 84 others missing as SuperFerry sinks off Zambo

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/171617/4-dead-84-others-missing-as-superferry-sinks-off-zambo
09/06/2009 | 10:35 AM

(Updated 11:45 a.m.) Four people died while 84 others were reported missing when a passenger ship sank Sunday morning after tilting for several hours in Siocon Bay near the Zamboanga Peninsula, company and government officials said.

In an interview on dzBB, Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said three of the fatalities from the sinking of SuperFerry 9 were taken aboard MV Myriad, a rescue vessel sent by the ship's owner Aboitiz Transport System (ATS).

One more body was recovered by a Navy rescue boat, one of the vessels that immediately responded to distress calls from the ship when it started tilting at 2 a.m. Sunday in the calm waters of Siocon Bay, he said. Arevalo added that SuperFerry 9 disappeared completely into the sea at 8:30 a.m.

According to Philippine Coast Guard commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, initial investigation showed that the ship left General Santos City at 8:45 a.m. Saturday and was heading for Iloilo when it began having problems with its generator. [See earlier story: Ship tilts off Zamboanga Peninsula]

In a news conference, Tamayo said that as of 11:55 a.m. authorities said 84 people are still unaccounted for. According to ATS, a total of 870 passengers and crew were on board SuperFerry 9.

Citing initial reports, Tamayo said that SuperFerry 9 had problems when its generator "went on and off." Authorities said they would investigate the cause of the sinking as soon as search and rescue operations are over.

The names of the fatalities and cause of their deaths were not immediately available.

In May this year, more than 900 passengers of SuperFerry 9 were left stranded off Camiguin province after the vessel’s engine conked out, according to a radio report.

ATS update

According to an ATS update at 1 p.m. Sunday, rescue operations are ongoing for missing passengers and crew. It was unclear whether the ship was empty or still had people on board when it sank.

In an official statement, ATS said the Philippine Air Force has deployed two PAF helicopters and one OV-10 plane to assist in the search. The Philippine Army and the US AIR force assistance group based in Zamboanga have also deployed helicopters to join the search for missing passengers and crew.

All rescued passengers and crew will be brought to the Zamboanga City port. Assistance including medical treatment, hotel accommodation and transport shall be provided for the ship's passengers and crew, the company said.

SuperFerry 1 is estimated to arrive in Zamboanga City tonight to transfer passengers to Iloilo and Manila. - GMANews.TV

Coast Guard sends oil-response crew to SuperFerry sinking site

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/171630/coast-guard-sends-oil-response-crew-to-superferry-sinking-site
09/06/2009 | 03:10 PM

The Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday sent a ship with oil-spill response capabilities to Zamboanga Peninsula, where a SuperFerry vessel listed and sank hours earlier.

Coast Guard commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said the ships have instructions to monitor the area where the SuperFerry 9 sank for any possible oil spill.

“Since she is traveling from General Santos City to Iloilo, there’s still some considerable amount of fuel on board. We have already sent out ships led by BRP Corregidor to undertake monitoring and oil spill response operations as necessary," Tamayo said in an interview on dzBB radio.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said a hole in the hull may have been the cause of the ship’s sinking.

In its report, NDCC said the ship listed 9.5 nautical miles west of Bonga Point in Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte at about 4 a.m., “allegedly due to a hole in the hull."

The NDCC said the SuperFerry 9 had 847 passengers and 112 crew members on board.

On the other hand, Tamayo told government-run dzRB radio that as of 11:55 a.m., at least 88 people from the SuperFerry 9 remain unaccounted for.

He said the others have been accounted for, including 258 rescued by the “Ocean Integrity," 441 by SuperFerry 9’s sister ship “Myriad," and
171 by the Philippine Navy’s gunboat.

While Tamayo confirmed three fatalities from the vessel, Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo said a Navy ship recovered at least one more fatality.

SuperFerry 9 sank off Zamboanga Peninsula Sunday morning, hours after it began to list while en route from General Santos City to Iloilo.

Also, Arevalo said the ship’s captain, Jose Yap, is now in Navy custody, adding that the skipper was among those rescued and brought aboard Navy ship 116.

Initial investigation showed Yap gave the order to abandon ship at about 4 a.m.

‘Among best captains’

Andrew Deyto, SuperFerry assistant vice president for sales and marketing, said Yap had been one of Aboitiz Transport Systems’ “best captains."

“He has been with us for so many years, (he’s) one of our best captains around," Deyto said at a press conference.

Deyto also vouched for the safety of SuperFerry 9, saying it was the first ship to be awarded an International Safety Management (ISM) certificate in 1996.

He also said the vessel last went into dry-dock in June 2007, and its next drydock is due in the first quarter of 2010.

But only in May this year, over 900 passengers of SuperFerry 9 were left stranded off Camiguin province when the ship’s engine conked out.

In the meantime, Deyto said relatives of passengers can call Aboitiz at 5287000. He said they are still setting up hotlines in Iloilo and General Santos to accommodate passengers’ kin.

Palace's order

In Malacañang, meanwhile, deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez Jr. said President Arroyo ordered Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to send military assets to rescue the passengers.

“Dahil sa utos ng pangulo kay Sec. Teodoro maraming nasalba at nakakatuwa naman dahil mabilis ang action ng Coast Guard, ng Navy at Air Force (Because of the president’s order to Teodoro, many lives were saved because of the quick action of the Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force)," he said on government-run dzRB radio.

Golez also said the Department of Social Welfare and Development is coordinating with the Office of the Civil Defense to help survivors and relatives.

He added the DSWD and Department of Health are instructed to give assistance immediately to the injured and to the relatives of the fatalities. - GMANews.TV