Despite the delay of the Department of Justice's report on the Atimonan bloodbath, Malacañang on Monday assured the public that there will be no whitewash of the incident.
"The apprehensions are unfounded. I can assure you that Secretary of Justice, Leila de Lima, will submit a report this week," Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a briefing.
"The Secretary of Justice will submit the report this week to the President. That’s something I can assure you," he added.
On January 6, an encounter between law enforcers and a two-vehicle convoy in Atimonan, Quezon left all 13 people in the convoy dead. Authorities have taken to calling it a shootout, but initial reports have cast doubts on the applicability of the term, since most of the 13 victims had been shot in the head.
Under the DOJ, the National Bureau of Investigation, which has been designated by the President as sole handler of the case, was expected to file a report on the incident sometime last week.
Two days before the incident turns a month old, no report has been filed.
Lacierda dismissed allegations that the delay of the report indicates irregularities, adding that the President himself asked Secretary De Lima to produce an exhaustive report.
“They need to come up with a comprehensive final report and that’s the reason why the Secretary of Justice and the NBI want the report to be exhaustive,” Lacierda explained.
“Remember, the President, prior to his leaving for Davos, also mentioned to Secretary de Lima that he wants a complete report,” Laceirda said, adding that the President told De Lima she need not rush to submit the report before his attendance at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Lacierda also assured reporters that there will be no leakage of the report before President Aquino can take a look at it.
“We informed Secretary Leila de Lima that there [are] so many things coming out from the NBI. And so, Secretary Leila de Lima gave strict instructions [to] the NBI that there should be no leakage. She’s very aware of those news reports coming out in the various broadsheets,” Lacierda said. — BM, GMA News
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