Seven of eight personnel of the National Bureau of Investigation from Bacolod City were hogtied and beaten up Saturday afternoon by about 15 members of the Negros Oriental provincial police while attempting to serve a search warrant to a Korean national at the Pamplona Golf and Country Club, NBI Bacolod chief Philip Pecache said yesterday.

Pecache said one of the members of the NBI Bacolod team, whose name he withheld, was in serious condition because his spinal column was dislocated during the beatings. He is set to be operated on today.

Pecache said the NBI is preparing to file charges against the policemen involved in the beating for obstruction of justice, assault on an agent in authority, and frustrated murder, once all of those involved are identified.

The NBI team was led by Special Investigator Menci Mamaspas, while the police team that beat them up was led by Chief Inspector Julius Muñez, Pecache said. Also with Mamaspas was Special Investigator Ed Kawada but Pecache withheld the names of the rest of the NBI personnel involved.

Muñez could not be reached for comment as of press time, while Senior Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, Negros Oriental provincial director, said the matter was still under investigation.

NBI ARMED WITH WARRANT

Pecache said his personnel had conducted surveillance on Korean national Ha Hae Bong and obtained a search warrant for illegal possession of firearms from the Cebu Regional Trial Court Judge Simeon Dumdum.

Kim Feong Kook of Villa Angela Subdivision in Bacolod had complained to the NBI that Ha Hae Bong had carnapped his red Revo vehicle and stolen items from their church in Barangay Banago, Bacolod City, Pecache said.

The NBI was also informed that Ha Hae Bong was in possession of a lot of firearms which they were able to confirm from their surveillance, prompting them to apply for a search warrant, he said.

COORDINATION WITH POLICE

Before going to the Pamplona Golf Club to serve the search warrant, Pecache said his men coordinated with the Pamplona police, as indicated in a logbook, and proceeded to the golf course where they disarmed the security guards, which is part of standard operating procedure when entering unfamiliar territory to serve a search warrant.

He said the manager of the golf club told them to wait but soon a team of policemen led by Muñez came. They refused to believe that the team of Mamaspas were members of the NBI and disarmed them.

The NBI team did not take a defensive position when the police arrived because they thought they were friendly forces, Pecache said.

PROTECTING KOREAN?

Pecache said the Negros Oriental police said the NBI search warrant was fake and that they were kidnappers for ransom. It appears they were protecting the Korean who is influential in the area, he said.

A member of the NBI team who asked not to be identified said the police disarmed them and tied their hands behind their backs with ropes that also went around their necks and made them face the ground.

We were tied up like pigs, they were very angry and they kept hitting us with the butt of their armalites and their feet, he said.

They were very mad, they asked why we had entered their territory, he said.

Every time we opened our mouth to talk they beat us, he said, adding that this lasted from about 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday before they were transferred to the Negros Oriental provincial command.

ONE CALLED FOR HELP

One of the NBI Bacolod men was able to escape and call Pecache for help prompting him to call the Region 7 police regional director.

The NBI team member said someone called Muñez on the phone and he then brought them to the provincial command where they were eventually released.

The NBI team member who was able to escape, but who asked that his name be withheld, said his group had coordinated with the Pamplona police and they have a certification to prove it.

He said he was with the other NBI personnel and had been explaining the search warrant to a woman who appeared to be the live-in partner of Ha Hae Bong. I needed a ballpen for her to sign it, so I went to the NBI vehicle to get one, he said.

He said when he re-entered the club he saw that Kawada and the rest of his companions were being beaten up, prompting him to run back to the NBI vehicle and escape. Our vehicle was fired upon as we exited and I immediately called Chief Pecache and the media for help, he said.

There were a lot of policemen and Koreans at the golf club, we were clearly outnumbered, he said.

Pecache said they have initial information that in the past the NBI had filed murder charges against Muñez and that could be the reason why he was very angry at the NBI men Saturday.*CPG

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