Faith in NBI probers of Gumban rape-slay case

Faith in NBI probers of 
Gumban rape-slay case

"Fear follows crime and is its punishment."
VOLTAIRE

By Alex P. Vidal

We refused to believe from the start that the Pototan Police Precinct, headed by Chief Insp. Aron Palomo, could not crack the celebrated rape-slay of Mhe Ann Gumban, a 24-year-old Boracay hotel receptionist, who was found dead morning on September 26, 2013 in a banana plantation in Sitio Balod, Brgy. Cauayan, Pototan, Iloilo.
Police initially released three people seen near the crime scene after a brief interrogation "for lack of sufficient evidence," Palomo said. For several weeks, nothing was heard of any positive development in the case except rumors that some of the perpetrators may be known to the victim personally.
Several names of suspects from the town's prominent families had surfaced in initial investigation, but police could not pin them down for lack of witnesses prompting Gumban's relatives led by the victim's aunt, Jane Galla, to seek the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Friends and relatives of the victim feared the heinous crime would not be solved after police initially failed to convince witnesses to come out in the open. Police probers were facing a blank wall until a young witness agreed to narrate what had transpired when he went to a sari-sari store to buy something. 

RETURN

Gumban failed to return home after leaving Galla's home morning on September 25 to visit her grandmother, Norma Gumban, who lives about a kilometer away. The victim worked as a hotel receptionist in Boracay and was taking a vacation at home.
After four months, the NBI regional office finally charged five suspects in the gristly crime that disturbed even the Manila-based Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).
Unknown to most residents in Pototan, NBI agents closely coordinated with Palomo's office and were able to piece together several angles and circumstances that led to the identification and subsequent filing of rape with homicide cases against the following suspects: Edcel Pinuela, brothers Exequiel and Gaspar Asuero, Alan Giner, and Rodel Grande. 

INVESTIGATOR

NBI-6 special investigator John Katipunan said Pinuela is a son of the owner of Pinuela Funeral Homes while the rest are his friends. Pinuela is reportedly Gumban's jilted suitor.
"Gumban had been avoiding Pinuela because she did not want to be pursued by men who are hooked on vices," said a local trader who refused to be identified for fear of reprisal.
Paloma had confirmed earlier that autopsy results showed the victim was violated before being murdered. Gumban was waylaid while on her way home from a visit to her grandmother’s house past 5:30 p.m., according to NBI investigation.
A child witness claimed he heard Gumban shout for help and was calling for her father to no avail as she was allegedly being held by a group of men believed to be Gumban's rapists and killers.

HEARD

Katipunan said the child also reportedly heard the suspects, who were drinking at a sari-sari store, telling someone, “Boss kami na bahala." 
Katiputan believed Gumban was still alive when the child overheard the suspects.
Police investigation showed Gumban was naked when found. Her shirt was used to strangle her neck and had bruises all over her body. Her breasts were exposed and her underwear and pair of shorts had been forcibly removed.

MONITORED

As of this writing, the suspects could not be located and were believed to have monitored the police and NBI investigations. 
It is always better to have faith in our police and NBI investigators rather than doubt their capabilities to solve any crime that happens in the neighborhood.
The Gumban rape-slay case is only one of the many celebrated crime cases that were considered "solved" upon the filing of appropriate charges against the culprits after families of the victims as well as witnesses cooperated with our authorities.