Magtanggol Gatdula, then National Bureau of Investigation director, checked on undocumented alien Noriyo Ohara a few hours after she was abducted in Pangasinan by unauthorized NBI agents on Oct. 29, 2010, according to a report of a Department of Justice fact-finding panel headed by Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III.
The report said the kidnapping was hatched right inside the NBI main office in Manila and that Gatdula had participated in the planning and cover-up.
President Benigno Aquino III recently dismissed Gatdula for failing to turn over Ohara, a Japanese, to the Bureau of Immigration (BI). He said he had lost trust in Gatdula.
The Baraan panel said NBI officials and agents held Ohara without charge and collected P6 million out of the P15 million they had demanded from the Marzan family, who were threatened with criminal charges for harboring an illegal alien. The haggling for the ransom took place in the NBI office.
Before Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo鈥檚 expos茅 on December 3 last year, Ohara was kept in various NBI offices and safe houses, and accompanied by Chona Esplana. In one of her appearances before the panel, Esplana claimed to be a confidential agent of the NBI but was later found to be lying.
Gatdula said he heard about the Ohara case on November 15 from NBI Deputy Director Reynaldo Esmeralda, who was asked by Tulfo about Ohara鈥檚 plight.
However, Ohara testified before the panel that Gatdula had gone to the office of special investigator Mario Garcia, chief of the NBI-Security Management Division (SMD), where she was brought by NBI agents who forcibly took her from the house of the Marzan family at around 8 a.m. on October 29.
Office picture
A picture of Gatdula hanging on the wall of Garcia鈥檚 office helped Ohara identify the NBI chief. 鈥淒irector Gatdula came in the room and looked at me. He talked to Garcia for a short time then he left. I recognized him because he has a picture in Garcia鈥檚 office,鈥� Ohara was quoted as saying in the report.
The Marzan patriarch, Romulo, who was also brought to the SMD by the NBI agents, said Gatdula dropped by on the afternoon of October 29. He said Esplana, who was with the team that participated in the Bugallon operation, had identified Gatdula for him.
鈥淲hen the man left, Chona told him (Romulo) that the man was no less than the NBI director himself, who had to go down from his office as Ohara鈥檚 case was a very important one,鈥� the report said.
Romulo鈥檚 daughters鈥擩acqueline and Glenda鈥攁lso identified Gatdula through the office picture.
Garcia, who led the operation to 鈥渞escue鈥� Ohara, confirmed that Gatdula had gone to the SMD between 5 and 6 p.m. to look at Ohara. 鈥淥K, help her with what she needs,鈥� Garcia quoted Gatdula as saying.
Gatdula admitted to the panel that he went to the SMD office as part of his 鈥渞outine inspection鈥� but he said he did not remember meeting or even noticing Ohara.
The panel noted that Garcia did not have any authority to order an operation. He said he formed the NBI team to 鈥渞escue鈥� Ohara after someone brought him a letter from her, written in Nihongo, asking for help because she was allegedly being abused by the Marzans.
The letter turned out to be Ohara鈥檚 request for help about her properties. Moreover, Ohara and the panel鈥檚 star witness, Garcia鈥檚 executive officer Jose Odelon Cabillan, claimed that she was made to write it much later as part of the cover-up.
Through Cabillan, who led the operation in Bugallon, the panel was able to learn about Virgelito Gutierrez, alias Labsky, a lackey of Gatdula back in the director鈥檚 days as a Quezon City policeman.
Cabillan said that in the first week of October, Gutierrez relayed to him that an informant, Jun Perez, also known as Rolando, had told him that a rich Japanese woman鈥擮hara鈥攚as living with the Marzans in Pangasinan and might be a target of kidnappers.
鈥淭he informant allegedly revealed that if the NBI would be able to get the Japanese woman, the Marzans would cough up money to settle with them. Labsky told him that the information was also relayed to Garcia and Gatdula,鈥� the report said.
On their way back to Manila, Cabillan said that he overheard Gutierrez speaking to Gatdula and that the NBI director 鈥渁ppeared to be monitoring [our] return.鈥�
Cabillan also confirmed that Gatdula had gone to the SMD office on the same day to check on Ohara and that the director even said, 鈥淒ocument her.鈥�
Motive, inheritance
The Baraan panel was able to establish a motive behind the abduction. Its report quoted Chief Consul Keiki Endo of the Japanese Embassy as saying that Ohara鈥檚 father had left her a huge inheritance and that the creditors of her father and the Japanese government, wanting to collect inheritance tax, were after her, thus explaining her flight to the Philippines.
Reports that Ohara鈥檚 father was killed by the criminal syndicate Yakuza appears to be not true, according to the report.
Ohara arrived in Manila in June 2009 and did not pass through immigration authorities. She bought a house in Las Pi帽as City which was registered in the name of her friend, Romulo鈥檚 sister Rosemarie. Ohara, who had assumed the identity of Marefe Laganas, went to live with the Marzans in Bugallon early last year.
Portions of the agreed ransom money were brought by the Marzans to the NBI in three batches鈥擯1 million, P4 million and another P1 million鈥攚hich were received by Cabillan and Esplana.
The Marzans claimed the money came from their own pockets. Although Ohara denied that the ransom money came from her, the panel noted that Jacqueline first knew about the abduction from Rosemarie, who is working in Japan. Rosemarie relayed the information about the abduction just an hour after it took place.
The panel also found that Garcia had given his personal bank account number to Ohara to be sent to her contact, probably Rosemarie.
Cabillan said that after the second installment (P4 million) of the ransom was delivered, he heard Garcia saying that he would take care of his 鈥渂oss鈥濃�攔eferring to assistant director Medardo de Lemos.
Cabillan also recounted how on December 8, Gatdula called him to the NBI library where he was meeting several people鈥擥atdula鈥檚 chief of staff Anthony Endrendal, spokesperson Boy Zamora, public information chief Alex Carbonel, Elizaldo Beltran of internal affairs, Garcia and Gutierrez.
During the meeting, Cabillan said Gatdula told him: 鈥淪omeone has to sacrifice. Someone has to admit guilt. We must do damage control so that this will stop,鈥� Gatdula said, to which Garcia replied, 鈥淥K Sir, I will take full responsibility.鈥�