Espino: No ‘gangster cops’ in CV
Police Regional Office (PRO)7 will not tolerate policeman who are involved in any form of illegal activities and they will be facing appropriate charges for their misdoings.
“PRO-7 will not tolerate and we will not allow our personnel to be labeled as gangster cops,” Chief Supt. Jose Mario Espino, director of PRO-7, told reporters.
He said this after President Rodrigo Duterte, in a speech during Senator Manny Pacquiao’s birthday celebration in General Santos City last Sunday, announced that about 90 policemen whom he labelled as gangster cops for their involvement in corruption and other illegal activities will be dismissed from service.
Duterte said three of those who will be dismissed have the rank of superintendent.
The dismissal of the policemen is part of the ongoing internal cleansing of the PNP which the president previously described as a “corrupt” organization.
Espino has yet to receive a copy of the list but he assured that there are no gangster cops who are assigned in Central Visayas.
Those personnel in PRO-7 who were in the list from the PNP headquarters for alleged illegal transactions have been relieved from their posts and are still being monitored while others are facing arbitration and investigation.
“Those previously listed PNP personnel involved in illegal transactions are still being monitored and on-going ang kanilang arbitration and investigation on alleged report that they are involved on alleged illegal transaction,” Espino said.
Espino added that PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has a standing order that all personnel who are reported to be doing illegal activities must be immediately investigated and the case must be resolved within thirty days.
Senior Supt. Jose Carumba, chief of Regional Internal Affairs Services (RIAS) of PRO7, told The FREEMAN that in 2016, 87 names were forwarded to PRO7 from the Office of the President.
Of the 87, 13 were relieved from their posts and directed to report in the Personnel Holding Account Unit (PHAU) in Camp Crame while their cases are ongoing.
During the first quarter of 2017, at least 148 policemen were subjected to an investigation by the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division over questionable assets.
In January, nine police officers were charged for criminal and administrative complaints and it was then followed by 63 policemen in February and another 40 in March.
The policemen were included on a list from the PNP Headquarters who reportedly have “dubious” properties given the salary of policemen.
Carumba said some of the 148 policemen were not assigned in PRO-7.
Carumba explained that the first stage of the investigation is to extract accounts from witness.
But this could be challenging since most witnesses would refuse to issue an affidavit for fear of retaliation.
If this course fails, they will proceed to lifestyle checking. They will check whether the properties owned by the police being investigated are proportioned to the salary he is receiving.
The last part would be the filing of appropriate charges.
Complaints for violation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and RA 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) will be filed against police officers who will be found doing illegal activities after a thorough validation process. —
Mae Clydyl L. Avila/MBG