CAMP BGEN OSCAR FLORENDO La Union – The police vehemently denied that they tortured the arrested gunman involved in the slaying of the lady municipal treasurer of Bauang, La Union in the morning of August 6 in front of her house in order to extract a confession.

Supt. Pedro Obaldo, police chief of Bauang town, refuted the allegation made by the wife of Rogelio Ordoña, the arrested suspect in the slaying of Felicidad Picar, in her complaint before PNP Chief Director General Oscar Calderon.

“We submit Bauang PNP for investigation. We did not commit any violation and we respect his rights,” Obaldo stressed, responding to the allegations made by Ordoña’s wife, Maria Cris.

]Mrs. Ordoña, who also filed charges before the Commission on Human Rights, claimed that her husband was illegally arrested and tortured for him to confess to a crime he did not commit.

Obaldo, however said the medico legal examination done by Dr. Bernardo Parado, municipal health officer, clearly showed the true health condition of the suspect.

“In fact, right after she (Mrs. Ordoña) arrived in Bauang to see her husband, we brought her husband for medical exam as part of police procedure,” Obaldo said.

He said that when checked by Dr. Parado, the latter saw one of Ordona’s wrists was swelling as a result of his handcuff.

Obaldo, however, admitted Mrs. Ordoña’s allegation that Rogelio was not immediately released from police custody to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) because this was in compliance with a court order.

“Yes, this was because Judge Ferdinand Fe granted my motion for continuous custody of the suspect for him to be subjected to further investigation because he was then cooperating with us and was even willing to tell other crimes and the masterminds,” Obaldo said.

The supposed confession was however deferred and Ordoña declined talk anymore after a private lawyer, accompanied by a defeated councilor, was sent to assist him.

To date, Ordoña was already transferred to BJMP while his wife is allegedly now under the custody of a politician whose identity was not yet disclosed.

Obaldo added that the ballistic examination conducted on the firearm, a Caliber 45 pistol, showed that this was the same firearm seized from Ordoña.

Another very strong case of murder against the suspect, Obaldo said, was Ordoña tested positive for gun powder burns based on paraffin test conducted on him.

At the same time, he was also positively identified by witnesses as the one who shot Picar while she was waiting for a ride along the highway in Barangay Santiago, Bauang bound for the town proper.

Corollary to this, Picar’s daughter, Rianne and Cristine, called on Mrs. Ordoña to beg for her to “find a space in your heart” and also share in the loss of their mother by also denouncing the people behind the slaying.

“Mrs. Ordona, we saw your husband, alive, eating, breathing inside the jail while the two of us can never see our mother, ever again,” the Picar daughters said in a statement.

“We never said bad words to your husband. We even prayed for your husband for God to enlighten his mind. We begged him to help so that there will be justice for our innocent mother’s death,” they appealed.