10 Toledo cops face probe for ‘abandoning’ station

More than 10 police officers are facing an investigation for allegedly abandoning Toledo City Police Station during the surprise inspection by Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) officials last Sunday morning.

The personnel may face administrative charges if they are found guilty by the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch (PIDMB).

Senior Supt. Edgar Alan Okubo, CPPO director, was the one who got surprised after he arrived in the police station and saw no one opening the gate and the door, CCTN news reported.

Okubo, thinking that the on-duty police officers had gone home, called Toledo City Police Chief Anthony Bagarinao and learned that a desk officer was inside the station.

The officer reasoned that he closed the gate and door as he was alone, fearing the detainees might escape.

PIDMB recommended the relief of the station’s chief clerk pending the investigation’s result.

Okubo suggested to let the officers undergo basic beat patrol course.

For his part, Bagarinao said they will face the investigation, adding that the questioned personnel were all on duty last Sunday.

He said his investigator and three intelligence officers went to Barangay Casoy after receiving a report about illegal cockfighting.

Six personnel, he said, were deployed to a mountain village to secure a benefit dance.