Police: We goofed
Officers who forced 80 to sign affidavit will still face sanctions MINGLANILLA ‘SURRENDERERS’ CLEARED
Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, police deputy regional director for operations, says the 80 persons rounded up from an illegal cockfight in Minglanilla last Christmas Day were “not really drug personalities” Minglanilla officers tear up the signed affidavits, pledge to delete the names from their list Arrest of government official’s son leads to quick review of questionable police operation
SOME officers from the Minglanilla Police Station faced yesterday afternoon 22 of the 80 persons they allegedly forced to admit they were on drugs, in a meeting in the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 headquarters.
The complainants agreed not to press charges, for as long as the officers delete their names from a file of surrenderers’ names.
Minglanilla Police Chief Florendo Fajardo, his personnel and the complainants tore the affidavits containing the supposed confessions.
“Dili man gyud pud sila drug personalities (These people are really not drug personalities),” said Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas,
who organized the meeting, which started past 2 p.m. and lasted for more than two hours.
Lawas, the deputy regional director for operations, said the police will not continue their investigation, but will study possible sanctions they can impose on Fajardo and his personnel.
The official said there was a lapse in letting the 80 persons sign affidavits under duress.
“Bisan og nagkasinabot na, naa gihapon tay himoong action sa Minglanilla police nga disciplinary action (Despite the amicable settlement, we will still take disciplinary action on the Minglanilla police),” said Lawas.
The complainants insisted they had been forced to sign affidavits, but Fajardo has denied this allegation.
Police raided an illegal cockfight on a vacant lot near the home of Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Caraga Regional Director Roger de Dios in Upper Linao, Minglanilla last Sunday afternoon, Christmas Day.
Cockfight
No representative from the barangay was present during the operation, which a closed-circuit television camera recorded.
Among those the police arrested was de Dios’s son, Revo, who was selling goods in the vicinity.
Fajardo earlier said the illegal cockfight was run by Revo, which de Dios denied.
The MGB official admitted his family owned the lot before, but that he already sold it to another person. De Dios said he had asked the gamblers to stop their illegal activity, but they wouldn’t listen to him.
“Ako na lang na silang natugtan basta wa’y gubot (I let them be, for as long as they caused no trouble),” he said.
De Dios said that the complainants want the police officers who arrested them to be transferred to other units, but that is up to PRO 7 officials.
Confrontation
He said his son was made to choose which drug he preferred to be written in the affidavit about his supposed sur- render. Revo eventually wrote that he was addicted to marijuana when he was still 16.
Revo was present during the meeting, but it was his brother Randolf, an engineer working at the Department of Energy 7, who did most of the talking for him.
Randolf confronted Fajardo and told the latter how bad his behavior was when he asked for Revo’s record. Randolf also asked for forgiveness for his behavior toward the police.
Motorcycle- for- hire driver Michael Marcelita, 41, told Superbalita he was arrested when he was just ferrying a passenger to Upper Linao.
He alleged that the police took his bag, which had P5,800 cash inside it.
For his part, Fajardo said he will delete the names of the complainants from the records.
Personnel of Minglanilla police apologized and promised not to charge the complainants for illegal gambling; they also returned the evidence they seized from the complainants.