Ponteras must
clear his name, fast!

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Negros Occidental Governor Joseph Marañon is right. Former Bacolod Police Director Vicente Ponteras must take steps at once to clear his name of the allegations of a police asset that he was involved in the kidnapping and murder of former barangay captain Eleuterio Salabas and his two companions.

The affidavit accomplished by the "asset" detailed in gruesome narration the way the three were snatched, tortured and eventually killed by their abductors, identified as police officers whose names are very familiar to Bacoleños and Negrenses. What ordinary citizens find abhorrent - if the claims of the police asset are to be believed - are his statements, made under oath, that two former police chiefs of Bacolod, Ponteras and George Bajelot, were in on the planning, had monitored the alleged operation, and had even joined a celebration party after the dastardly deed, that included throwing away the bodies into the sea, had been accomplished.

The so-called asset surely cannot be described as a person of pristine reputation, having been himself charged with murder, but was fortunate enough to have the case dismissed. One cannot fathom his motives, if any, in issuing such statements against the police officers who had been known for their successes in the operations against traffickers of illegal drugs. Questions on his credibility could surely be raised, and the court may eventually find out the veracity or falsehood of his claims, since there are indications that the families of the victims will include Ponteras and Bajelot in the charges.

In the meantime, however, former Police Chief Ponteras, who has made known his interest in running for public office, must do everything possible to immediately disprove the story and assail the credibility of the asset, Cecil "Giant" Brilliantes. It may be unfair, but the claims, outlandish though they may seem, could be very harmful, if not fatal, to his possible candidacy.*