Manila cops sacked over watch theft

Metro Manila police chief Director Reynaldo Varilla ordered the relief last Thursday of a top Manila police official and five of his men for allegedly switching a fake wristwatch with the expensive Rolex watch owned by a Chinese businessman who was arrested last Nov. 29.

Varilla ordered the suspects, Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo, chief of the General Assignment Section (GAS) of the Manila Police District (MPD) and his men Inspector Casan Ali, Senior Police Officer 2 Angel Yumul, PO2 Rajenie Cayabyab, PO2 Ernie Reyes and PO2 Laurencio Bernardo relieved from the Manila police and assigned them to the Regional Headquarters Support Group (RHSG) of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

He also directed Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., head of the Regional Investigation and Detective Management (RIDM) to investigate the complaint of businessman Carlos Go, 43, against Pedrozo and his men.

Senior Superintendent Danilo Abarzosa, MPD officer-in-charge (OIC), ordered the filing of qualified theft case against the five policemen before the Manila prosecutor’s office.

Citing command responsibility, Abarzosa recommended the relief of Pedrozo, which was approved by Varilla.

"They were relieved and reassigned at the RHSG to make themselves available once they are needed in the investigation and also to prevent them from harassing the victim and other possible witnesses against them," Rojas told The STAR.

Rojas said he would summon Pedrozo and his men to appear before police investigators anytime next week.

In his three-page report to Varilla, Abarzosa said Go was arrested by Pedrozo’s men at the parking lot of a hotel in Ermita, Manila for allegedly molesting Aireen Perez, 21, a resident of Pandacan.

The arresting officers allegedly recovered a pack of shabu inside Go’s Honda CRV with license plates XGY 729.

Go said he was driven around Manila twice by the policemen before he was brought to the GAS office at the MPD headquarters along U.N. Ave., where he was detained for possession of shabu, physical injuries and acts of lasciviousness.

Before being detained, Go was ordered by his arresting officers to remove all his valuables, including his Rolex watch worth hundreds of pesos, and placed them inside his clutch bag and into a locker for safekeeping.

At about 4 p.m. last Dec. 1, Go said he saw his arresting officers at the MPD headquarters, with one of them holding his clutch bag.

Minutes later, the group called him and returned his clutch bag.

When he checked his belongings, he noticed that his watch was switched with a fake Rolex watch. He decided to file a complaint against his arresting officers.

Upon learning of the incident, Abarzosa directed the Theft and Robbery Section to act on Go’s complaint. However, the five policemen failed to appear for a confrontation with Go despite being summoned, Abarzosa said.

Go positively identified the suspects through the photo gallery of the GAS personnel.

In an actual demonstration, Go showed that the bracelet of the fake Rolex is not his size because it does not fit on his left wrist. He pointed to the white mark on his left wrist as evidence that the wristwatch that was returned to him was a fake and not his original watch.

Go presented an invoice receipt showing that he bought his original Rolex watch in Hongkong for $22,000.

In his report to Varilla, Abarzosa established that Ali was the team leader of the arresting officers, and Yumul is the first guy to enter Go’s car and took the steering wheel and the one who took the clutch bag for safekeeping.