The recommendation for the conduct of a summary hearing against Sr. Supt. Arturo Evangelista, chief of the Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division, has been approved by the National Police Commission-7, which will in turn send the case to Malacañang for a presidential clearance to proceed with the hearing.
NAPOLCOM regional director Bernardo Calibo approved the recommendation of the evaluating lawyer of the case filed against Evangelista by Sr. Supt. Edgardo Ingking, director of the Bohol Provincial Police Office.
The recommendation submitted to Calibo last October 5, was contained in the Pre-Charge Evaluation Report (PCER) stating that Ingking’s complaint against Evangelista was complete “in form and substance.”
The PCER said that Evangelista be “charged with grave misconduct and dishonesty with aggravating circumstance of taking undue advantage of his official position.”
The PCER however denied Ingking’s plea to put Evangelista under preventive suspension, saying that such matter could be raised during the summary hearing proceedings anyway.
Ingking had accused Evangelista of submitting “unverified reports” to the then PRO-7 director Silverio Alarcio last September 7 that Ingking said had damaged the image of the BPPO and demoralizing its members.
Evangelista’s report cited six lapses on the part of the BPPO about the operation that led to the arrest of the members of the Casimero Garcia robbery group following a bloody robbery of the Bank of Commerce in Tagbilaran City last August 28.
The alleged lapses were: 1) insufficient police visibility in the city to deter hold-up cases; 2) no reactive measures or reactive unit for incidents such as the bank rob, etc; 3) escape of rob suspects was unhampered for lack of a single checkpoint; 4) non-aggressive follow-up operations; 5) non-observance to operating procedures and lack of supervision of policemen in going after the suspects inside a resort; and 6) delayed submission of the case report to the regional office.
Ingking cried foul over these allegations that reached Alarcio’s office and the evaluating lawyer that handled his complaint stated that Evangelista’s reports were “unverified” and have “greatly eroded and demolished BPPO officers’ self-esteem and self-confidence.”
The PCER said the actuations of Evangelista “compromised the pride and integrity of the police group,” which is tantamount to “maliciously intriguing against the honor and discrediting the dignity of his co-police officers.”
These acts “qualify the offense as grave misconduct,” said the PCER, adding that Evangelista even lied to a Bohol newspaper that he was the one who created the popular Bohol Tourist Police even if he knew that the group was created by the then BPPO director, Sr. Supt. Sancho Bernales. — Flor Z. Perolina/RAE