MANILA, Philippines -- Saying he was under constant threat from those who killed his father, a suspect in the robbery-massacre at the Rizal Commercial Bank Corp. (RCBC) branch in Cabuyao, Laguna, has sought the protection of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
Jake Javier, 23, was placed under the protective custody of the CHR Tuesday, shortly after he was picked up in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, by the commission’s lawyers, his family and former Batangas Vice Governor Ricky Recto.
“I don’t trust the police anymore, especially after what they did to my father,” said Javier in Filipino.
Javier’s father, Vivencio, was killed by intelligence agents of the Batangas police who raided their house in the village of Pagaspas, Tanauan City, at midnight on May 22.
The police claimed father and son were members of the Lucido-Javier robbery gang who staged the heist and killed the 10 persons who were in the bank at the time.
Vivencio was one of four alleged suspects who were killed in three separate police operations in Batangas and Laguna one week after the robbery.
Provisional custody
CHR Chair Leila de Lima said the commission placed Javier under its custody after she consulted the two other CHR commissioners.
De Lima said Javier’s stay at the CHR was provisional.
“This is just a temporary physical custody. If a valid order from any court, like a warrant of arrest, is issued we will turn him over,” she said at a press briefing in Quezon City.
Javier, his mother and his lawyer later signed an agreement with De Lima regarding the conditions of his stay at the CHR.
Recto said he advised Javier’s family to go to the CHR the day after he learned of Vivencio’s killing and the threats to the family.
He said Vivencio, a former village captain, was one of his political supporters in Tanauan.
Made up story
Reached on his mobile phone, Senior Supt. Aaron Fidel, head of Task Force RCBC, said the police respected the CHR decision to place Javier under its custody.
“He (Javier) can stay at the CHR as long as he wants,” he said.
Asked about the threats on Javier, he said the suspect was only “making up a story to cover up” his complicity in the case.
“We’re not behind any attempts to kill him. In fact, we want him alive so he can talk about what happened in that robbery-massacre,” Fidel said.
Fidel said Javier was one of six persons the police have charged with robbery with multiple homicide in connection with the bloody bank job.
He said one of the witnesses saw Javier enter the bank on the day of the incident.
He also lashed out at De Lima for “prejudging” the police team that shot and killed the elder Javier.
In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jake Javier said he was asleep at home when the robbery occurred on May 16.
He said he only learned about the incident when he saw it on television at noon that day.
