CIDG-7 regional director S/Supt. Jorge Corpuz said his office is welcoming the probe after Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he wants the CIDG included in the fact-finding inquiry by the Ombudsman-Visayas as he suspected them of taking bribes from one of the stores they raided that day.
The CIDG-7 had one team raid boutiques in a mall along Colon Street and another in a department store in North Reclamation Area. Only the team in Colon arrested three people allegedly caught selling the fake Top Gel pearl cream.
The controversy began when councilor Gerado Carillo allegedly intervened in the operation and promised to bring his client John Sanchez, as well as Ben Dy and Ke Gingy, to the CIDG office himself.
In the other raid, police confiscated what was said to be fake Top Gel pearl creams but arrested no one, raising suspicion from the mayor that they were bribed.
Corpuz denied there were irregularities during the raid. "If ever nabayaran kami, sige ireklamo nila, we will welcome all of them," Corpuz added.
Corpuz explained that no one was arrested during the other operation because nobody claimed ownership of the products they confiscated, unlike in Colon where Sanchez reportedly signed the seizure receipt. - Edwin Ian Melecio/BRP