For National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Deputy Director Reynaldo Esmeralda, only one case came to mind when asked what could be the most likely motive behind the attempt on his life Tuesday night.
The ambush survivor said the attack鈥攚hich left him, his brother Nilo, and their driver injured in their vehicle鈥攎ay be linked to the Noriyo Ohara kidnapping case, which recently led to the dismissal of former NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula.
Esmeralda鈥檚 suspicion was echoed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and drew strong condemnation from Gatdula鈥檚 camp. A lawyer for the ex-NBI chief demanded an apology from De Lima and noted that the ambush appeared to be 鈥渟taged.鈥�
Esmeralda was one of the NBI resource persons interviewed by a justice department fact-finding panel regarding the Ohara case in December 2011. He testified on how he first learned about the Japanese national鈥檚 case from Inquirer Metro columnist Mon Tulfo and that he made suggestions to Gatdula to look into the matter.
In media interviews Wednesday morning, Esmeralda said he started receiving death threats through text messages two weeks ago and that an NBI special investigator had also warned him that a group 鈥渞elated to the Ohara case (but) outside the NBI鈥� was after him.
Over Radyo Inquirer, Esmeralda said he immediately called De Lima from the hospital after the ambush. 鈥淚 told her to beef up her security because she鈥檚 part of the equation of these death threats.鈥�
An Agence France Presse report quoted De Lima as saying that the incident might be related to the sacking of Gatdula and 10 of his agents last month after an investigation linked them to the Ohara kidnap-for-ransom case.
She said justice department officials who investigated Gatdula鈥檚 case had also received death threats recently. 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying that this is the reason (for the attack). I am just warning that there is already a security threat,鈥� she said.
In a press conference in Quezon City, Gatdula鈥檚 lawyer, Abraham Espejo, lashed at De Lima for linking his client to the ambush.
鈥淭he secretary should apologize to us for quickly linking my client to the ambush of Esmeralda, which we think was staged,鈥� Espejo said. 鈥淚t was an 鈥榓mbush-me鈥� (scheme).鈥�
The lawyer pointed out 鈥渋nconsistencies鈥� in the initial police reports concerning the ambush. 鈥淭hey had a convoy of (security) vehicles, and no one from (Esmeralda鈥檚) men fired at the supposed gunmen in reaction to the attack,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he suspects armed with long firearms, M-16s, supposedly strafed Esmeralda鈥檚 vehicle, but he survived and sustained only cuts and bruises,鈥� Espejo noted.
Espejo maintained that Gatdula does not have the capability and resources to carry out the ambush.
鈥淗e is not in power, unlike Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Esmeralda,鈥� he said of his client. Espejo said he found it unusual that 鈥淓smeralda called De Lima even before he called his wife to say he was all right.鈥�
In a statement read by his spokesperson Doren Flora Manzanera, Gatdula said: 鈥淚 am deeply saddened by what happened to NBI Deputy Director Esmeralda. But more so, I am greatly distressed over apparent attempts to link me to the ambush.鈥�
鈥淚 deny any involvement in the said crime. And I condemn insinuations that I have a hand in it,鈥� he added.
鈥淓ven when my honor was tainted and my innocence prejudged by unfair accusations, I stepped down quietly, and submitted to the tedious process of the court to clear my name. But this is too much,鈥� he said.
At around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, motorcycle-riding gunmen fired at the vehicle carrying Esmeralda, his brother Nilo, their driver Danilo Ostia and two more police escorts on San Gregorio Street (not Apacible, as earlier reported) in Paco, Manila, shortly after the vehicle left the NBI headquarters on Taft Avenue.
Esmeralda and Ostia suffered superficial cuts from glass fragments but Nilo sustained a gunshot wound on his right shoulder and a splinter in the eye. The three were declared out of danger later that night but remained confined Wednesday at Manila Doctors Hospital.