Belleza to probe seven cops who released suspect

Talisay City Vice Mayor Aberdovey Belleza yesterday vowed to look deeper into the case of seven policemen who allegedly accepted money from a suspected drug pusher.

Belleza, chairman of the committee on peace and order in the council, said he will conduct a separate investigation on the policemen who allegedly arrested a drug pusher in a buy-bust operation but later released her without informing their superiors.

The seven policemen are SPO4 Reynaldo Vitualia, SPO3 Ederick dela Cruz, SPO1 Archimedes Judilla, PO3s Remberto Empeynado and Ramil Navarro, PO2 Alexis Racaza and PO1 Marciano Paryaday. They have lost their pay for 10 days staring Monday

Last July 1 they allegedly arrested Edna Cabo in a buy-bust operation. She was detained at police sub-station detention cell in barangay Lawa-an but released around 11:20 p.m. that day without the knowledge of acting Talisay police chief Audie Villacin.

Based on the report of Insp. Isagani Abalo, the head of the Lawa-an sub-station, it was Navarro who released Cabo.

Villacin said that he was not told of Cabo's release since it was not recorded in the police blotter. Villacin even said that he just only knew the incident after getting a memorandum last July 5 from the Cebu Provincial Police Office telling him of the incident. Cabo reportedly paid the policemen P150,000 to let her go. But the policemen said no settlement happened as no buy-bust operation was done, they just only invited Cabo for investigation because her name was included in the list of suspected drug pushers. - Garry B. Lao