Town cop faces probe

Police find him inside house of suspected drug pusher

POLICE Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Prudencio Tom Bañas revealed that if there is enough evidence of guilt, dismissal proceedings will be initiated against the policeman who was caught in a drug bust in Borbon.

Bañas said he doubts PO2 Bernard Almeda's explanation that he was in the house of a drug suspect to conduct surveillance.

“Kalokohan yan (That's crazy). If you are doing surveillance, you should not be inside the house, unless you have an involvement,” Bañas told reporters yesterday.

He said Borbon Police Chief Glenn Devocion also has to explain why a member of the town police force was found inside the house of a suspected drug pusher when the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) conducted an operation in Sitio Intermedia, Barangay Poblacion last Monday afternoon.

Clean

In a phone interview, Devocion said that in his two years as Borbon Police chief, he did not find anything derogatory against Almeda.

He said Almeda had been instrumental in several operations against illegal drugs in the town.

He said he asked Almeda to conduct surveillance on a drug suspect in Sitio Intermedia. But the police chief declined to disclose the identity of the suspect.

He said he will wait for instructions from the Cebu Provincial Police Office director. “I am just here to follow orders,” he said.

Police chief

During the PIB buybust on Edwin Cabahug, the police found Almeda and Zeev Tulod, Cabahug's alleged runner.

The police seized P50,000 worth of susbstance called shabu from the suspects.

Bañas said he also asked for an investigation against Compostela Police Chief Samuel Romanillos.

Bañas said Romanillos allegedly received P50,000 to release a Ghanaian national who was arrested for smoking marijuana.

He said the police will not tolerate any wrongdoing in the force.