Alarcio asked: Look into police inaction

Two residents of barangay Tinubdan, Daan Bantayan town wanted regional police office chief Silverio Alarcio Jr. to look into the failure of the town policemen to act on their complaint against their barangay captain.

In his November 23 letter to Alarcio, copy of which was furnished to The Freeman, lawyer Braulio Arriola Jr. claimed that Marciano Placencia and Tereso Garbo filed their complaint through a Citizen's Report at the office of the town's police chief last October 24.

Subsequently on November 4, Arriola, who is representing Placencia and Garbo, said he sent a follow-up letter to the town police station to inquire on the development of the complaint.

Although Arriola's letter failed to mention the town police chief's name, a check made by The Freeman revealed that the acting police chief of the town is Senior Inspector Jovito Canlas Canlapan.

Arriola said the complaint stated that Barangay Captain Juanito Ybañez illegally possessed a firearm, accused Placencia of being a rebel, and forced Garbo to implicate Placencia as the owner of the gun.

According to Arriola, since the complainants are under threat, they had sought assistance from the town police. But he said they hope Alarcio will act on the matter since the local authorities did not act on their complaint.

Instead of filing their complaint to Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Senior Supt. Vicente Loot, husband of Mayor Maria Luisa Loot, the complainants decided to bring the matter to Alarcio.

But to their surprise, the town policemen instead filed charges for grave threats against them for allegedly threatening barangay tanod Jaime Casas and a neighbor, Nemesia Satundaga, who are reported to be political supporters of Mayor Loot.

In their joint affidavit, Placencia and Garbo strongly denied the charges and instead questioned the action of the police. They said they hope that Alarcio will act on their complaint. - Jose P. Sollano/LPM