The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found that the soldiers killed in the Jolo incident involving policemen sustained bullet wounds “mostly in the back,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters Tuesday, July 14.

“The ballistic report clearly indicated that the shells and slugs found at the scene of the crime matched the firearms of the police officers involved, and that the bullet wounds were mostly in the back of the body, with one soldier sustaining eight wounds,” Guevarra said.

The NBI is an attached agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Four soldiers were shot dead by policemen at a checkpoint in Jolo, Sulu, on June 29, with the initial police report saying the soldiers pointed their guns at the cops first – a claim debunked by the Army. The cops in the incident are now detained at Camp Crame.

Guevarra said that the 2 other soldiers had 3 bullet wounds each. There were shots to the extremities, “but all of them sustained bullet wounds in their backs.”

Only 3 soldiers were autopsied, because the 4th is a Muslim who had to be buried right away in accordance with Islamic practices.

“Unless the NBI intends to submit a supplemental report, I expect that a criminal complaint will be filed very soon with the DOJ,” Guevarra said, without elaborating on the exact offense and respondents of the potential suit. 

Army chief Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay has said that what happened to their intelligence personnel “was murder.”

Guevarra said the NBI field agents have submitted their initial investigation report, containing testimonies of 10 witnesses and the forensic findings of medico-legal and ballistic experts. – Rappler.com