Cop in Atimonan killing goes AWOL

MANILA, Philippines - A police officer linked to the killing of 13 persons in an alleged rubout in Atimonan, Quezon last Jan. 6, has been absent without official leave (AWOL) for a month now, a police official disclosed yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Yordan, director of the Headquarters Support Service (HSS) in Camp Crame, Quezon City, said Superintendent Ramon Balauag – who was relieved as chief of the Quezon Provincial Police Intelligence Branch after the killings – has been marked AWOL since July 8.

Balauag was assigned in the Administrative Resource Management Division (ARMD) of HSS.

Yordan has ordered an investigation into Balauag’s absence as basis for the subsequent summary dismissal proceedings for the missing police official.

Yordan said any member or officer of the police force who is AWOL for a continuous period of 30 days or more shall be dismissed immediately from the service.

“His activities and whereabouts during the period shall be investigated if found to have committed a crime, he shall be prosecuted accordingly,” Yordan said.

Yordan has formed a follow-up team to locate and arrest Balauag and bring him back to Camp Crame.

All the 22 policemen, including eight officials, were reassigned to the HSS under restrictive custody since Jan. 23 to ensure their proper accounting and availability to face further investigation for the so-called Atimonan rubout case.

Yordan said that since July 8 he already sent two notices to the last known address of Balauag in Quezon City but no response was received.

He decided to report to Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima the disappearance of Balauag, who failed to appear in a hearing at the PNP Internal Affairs Service last Aug. 5.

Balauag and the other police officers are facing administrative charges for grave misconduct for the death of the 13 people, including three police officers and an alleged gambling lord, during a supposed police operation.

Yordan said Balauag’s lawyer has been duly notified about the status of his client.

Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office chief, said Yordan assured him that the other 21 police officers are all accounted for.

Purisima placed under restrictive custody all the 22 policemen, including Chief Superintendent James Melad, Senior Superintendent Valeriano de Leon, Superintendent Hansel Marantan and other members of the Atimonan police station.

The police officers claimed they conducted the police operation in Atimonan following reports of movement of large cache of firearms. They later claimed one of the 13 slain individuals opened fire at them, triggering a shootout.

The probe conducted by the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) showed that the killings were likely a rubout and not a shootout as claimed by the accused police officers.