LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines – Twelve lawmen in Mangaldan town, including their chief, have been relieved from their posts pending investigation for allegedly inviting a female guest relations officer (GRO) to perform a lewd show in their police station.
Senior Superintendent Percival Barba, provincial police director, told The STAR yesterday that the number already includes all those who must be probed for such grave misconduct.
The names of the 12 police officers were withheld pending investigation by the Provincial Internal Affairs Service.
The incident allegedly happened on the night of July 18 and was reported by a concerned citizen to the Philippine National Police’s textline 2920.
Chief Superintendent Orlando Mabutas, regional police director, was fuming mad when he learned about the incident and ordered the inquiry and immediate relief of those involved.
“Let us rid our force of misfits and scalawags… Let this be a warning to all of us. Those policemen have no place in the PNP,” Mabutas said, referring to the Mangaldan incident, in his speech at the provincial police headquarters last Tuesday.
“They cannot be lax and do whatever they want while the others are doing their jobs properly. If they want our organization to be transformed, everybody must be transformed,” he added.