Liddawa gets new summary hearing officer from Negros

Summary hearing procedures will now be conducted against Police Senior Insp. Jose Liddawa after a newly designated summary hearing officer from the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office arrived yesterday at the Police Regional Office-7.

Senior Insp. Troy Warren Cayanan, legal officer of NOPPO, was designated by the office of Legal Services in Camp Crame to act as Liddawa’s summary hearing officer after Chief Insp. Henry Biñas of the Fuente Police inhibited from handling the case to avoid suspicions of being biased.

Biñas and Liddawa are both alumni of the Philippine National Police Academy and Liddawa was Biñas’ deputy while he was still the operations branch chief of the Cebu City Police Office.

Cayanan was detailed by Camp Crame to be Liddawa’s hearing officer upon the request of PRO-7 director Ronald Roderos in order to expedite the conduct of an administrative case for grave misconduct against Liddawa for a period of 60 days following Biñas’ inhibition.

Cayanan said the proceedings will start next week and that he will summon the respondent to answer all allegations hurled against him.

However, he could not yet say when he would be able to finish with the case. But he said this could not probably last more than 60 days because according to the new rule, the respondent could just submit a position paper.

Senior Insp. Ludivico Cutaran, chief of the PRO-7 legal services, also explained yesterday that Memorandum Circular No. 2007-001 issued by the National Police Commission stipulated that it is no longer necessary to cross-examine the parties involved; and that it is enough to give both parties the chance to submit their position papers. — Flor Z. Perolina/MEEV