Antique town police chief, 7 others sacked

Manila, Philippines -  An Antique municipal police chief and seven of his men were removed from their positions and placed under investigation for allegedly ignoring the complaint of a storeowner against a barangay chairman who had slapped him in the face.

Relieved were Senior Inspector Roberto Indiape Jr., police chief of Pandan town, and seven of his men, namely SPO2 Gerry Alondagay, SPO1 Jonathan Ricote, PO3 Bartolome Evangelio, PO2s Althem Berug, Aries Dulalia and Macario Terones, and PO1 Elton Manatac.

Chief Superintendent Cipriano Querol Jr., Eastern Visayas police director, ordered the relief of the eight policemen while an investigation is being carried out to determine the extent of their administrative liability and culpability.

Querol gathered that the eight policemen did not lift a finger on Ronardo Cunanan of Barangay Centro Norte, Pandan town, who allegedly slapped store owner Ali Abubakar last April 2.

Abubakar complained that Cunanan, who was allegedly drunk, confronted him and ordered him to close his store although he had a barangay business clearance. 

Supposedly without any provocation, Cunanan allegedly slapped Abubakar in public, prompted the storeowner to report the incident to the police.

Cunanan and Abubakar ended up at the police station where the barangay official again slapped Abubakar. Cunanan allegedly even tried to draw his firearm in front of Abubakar’s companions and policemen. 

Querol said Indiape and his men failed to arrest Cunanan, making them liable for neglect of duty.

Based on PNP rules and regulations, he said a police officer is obliged to perform his duty.

“The law provides that a peace officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a person when in his presence, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing or is attempting to commit an offense,” he said.

Querol vowed to correct gross violations of PNP rules and regulations under his watch and strictly enforce police operational procedures.