Military Ombudsman grounds Dumpit for a year

Controversial policeman Adonis Dumpit, one of two cops who shot most wanted person Rey Ruel Torres that resulted to the latter's arrest last week, was yesterday ordered to surrender his badge and firearm following a one-year suspension issued by the Ombudsman for the Military.

The suspension was in relation to a frustrated murder case that was filed against him by Wilson Borja and Rolando Mejarito last August 27, about two hours after he reportedly shot to death jeepney driver Federico Tabon.

According to Dumpit, Borja and Mejarito are suspected thieves at the waterfront area and that they could only be imagining when they said it was him who shot them.

According to him, he was already sleeping at home during the pier area incident. This despite the claim of the victims that they could not be wrong it was Dumpit because he even asked them where they lived.

But the Ombudsman for the Military found Dumpit guilty of grave misconduct resulting to the suspension that was effective June 16 and was forwarded to the Directorate for Personnel Record and Management Office in Camp Crame.

A radio message about the suspension was then sent to the regional police office yesterday and was subsequently received by Dumpit later on.

He said the decision was handed down even without hearing his side and was based only on the affidavits of the complainants, but nevertheless he said that as a law-abiding citizen he would follow the order.

"Mouli na lang ko sa amo-a sa Lambajon, Baganga, Davao Oriental. Mag uma na lang ko didto kay wala koy ipakaon sa akong pamilya. Pero og naay mo-offer nako og trabaho dinhi akong dawaton," Dumpit told The FREEMAN yesterday.

A known favorite of Mayor Tomas Osmeña because of his firearm proficiency skill, Dumpit said the local chief executive had already learned about his suspension but because the mayor was busy yesterday they were not able to talk about it yet.

Dumpit has at least three firearms issued by the city government - a .45 pistol, an M16 armalite rifle, and a .357 revolver. Another .45 pistol is with the PNP Crime Laboratory as it was submitted for ballistic examination in connection to the Tabon case.

A known sharpshooter, Dumpit has been hogging the headlines in the last five years due to shooting incidents he allegedly perpetrated against criminal elements.

He said the suspension did not demoralize him. In fact, if a crime happens he would still respond because he could do so by virtue of a citizen's arrest.

In previous interviews, Dumpit said it has been his dream to join the Philippine National Police. He wanted to be in the Philippine Military Academy, but changed his mind because "he was flatfooted."

He said he wanted to be in the military because he loves action. His mother liked him to be in the then Philippine Constabulary, but he declined.

As a consequence, his mother enrolled him in a nautical course at the University of the Visayas but he shifted to Criminology without informing his parents until he was about to graduate.

Dumpit was admitted to the service in 1992 and got married in 1994 and is now a father of an 11-year-old boy.