Pasay hostage case: 8 cops face ax

The Metro Manila police’s Internal Affairs Service (IAS) recommended yesterday the forced resignation of Pasay City police chief Superintendent Eduardo de la Cerna and the dismissal of seven of his men who figured in the tragic hostage-taking incident last May 31.

At the same time, IAS regional director Senior Superintendent Romulo Adduru exonerated 14 other policemen after finding no direct evidence linking them to the botched attempt to rescue four-year-old Dexter Balala from hostage taker Dio-medes Talvo.

Reached for comment yesterday, De la Cerna said the punishment meted against him was "too harsh."

"It hurts me a lot because (it’s) as if I’m guilty already of the charges," De la Cerna said, adding that while he may have some shortcomings, he should not have received all the blame.

De la Cerna, who is retiring on July 6, said the maximum penalty he was expecting was a reprimand. He vowed to appeal the IAS decision.

The young Balala was stabbed 13 times by Talvo after a three-hour standoff with police before he was gunned him down. Autopsy reports also indicated that Balala sustained five bullet wounds, with one bullet piercing his heart.

Pasay City police sources said De la Cerna offered a settlement with Balala’s family and the offer was allegedly brokered by Traffic Bureau chief Florencio Mateo, supposedly a relative of De la Cerna.

During the third hearing of the preliminary investigation on the case, Balala’s parents, Darius and Salvacion Balala, submitted an affidavit of desistance before the prosecution panel, headed by Assistant City Prosecutor Rolando Abrazaldo.

In their one-page affidavit, the couple said their son’s death was due to Talvo’s actions and the accidental shooting could not be blamed on the police and bus terminal security guards who only did their jobs.

Despite the affidavit of desistance, however, Abrazaldo said they could pursue the case although the prosecutors could still not determine who among the policemen fired the fatal shots.

Abrazaldo scheduled another hearing on July 8 for more clarificatory questions on the results of the ballistics tests on the firearms submitted by the policemen and the bus terminal security guards.

In an interview, Adduru said his recommendation to forcibly retire De la Cerna was based on evidence, including video footage of the hostage-taking incident at the Philtranco bus terminal in Malibay.

Adduru refused to identify the seven other dismissed policemen, except that one of them was the on-duty radio operator who failed to inform other police unit chiefs and the Southern Police District (SPD) headquarters of the ongoing hostage situation.

Adduru said the recommendation was in the report which he expects to submit to relieved Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay anytime this week.

"I’m now on the finishing touches of my report," Adduru said, refusing to reveal further details of the report.

Lawyer Alexis Canonizado, director general of the Philippine National Police IAS, confirmed Adduru’s recommendation, pointing out that it is now up to Aglipay to implement their findings.

"We are now in the process of informing all parties concerned of our decision," Canonizado said.

He stressed, however, that De la Cerna and the seven policemen may appeal their case before the IAS or the National Police Commission (Napolcom) as provided by law.

The SPD filed two counts of gross negligence resulting in homicide against 21 policemen, including De La Cerna. The radio operator on duty at the time was included in the charge because of his lapses, Adduru said.

According to Adduru, he recommended that the 14 exonerated policemen be subjected to a 20-day re-training course at the Subic Bay Freeport.

Shortly after the botched rescue operation, the entire 341-member Pasay City police force was sent to a 20-day re-training course in Subic on orders of PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza.