Valenzuela cop caught sleeping on duty

MANILA, Philippines — A rookie policeman in Valenzuela City was caught sleeping while on duty yesterday during a surprise inspection by National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar.

Eleazar ordered a pre-charge investigation against Police Officer 1 Gary Garcia and his commander, Inspector Arnold San Juan, chief of the Police Community Precinct (PCP) 3 in Marulas, for grave neglect of duty.

Eleazar made the rounds of PCPs and other police units in Metro Manila to check the readiness of policemen to respond to crimes.

He inspected the PCP in Pritil, Tondo; Patrol Unit South and Station Traffic Accident Investigation Unit in Caloocan; PCP 3 in Marulas; PCP 2 on Gen. T. de Leon street, and PCP 1 in Paso de Blas, all in Valenzuela; PCPs 1 and 4 of the Quezon City Police District and the San Juan City police station.

“All policemen in the precincts and police units I have inspected were awake and ready to assist complainants, except for Garcia,” Eleazar said.

Garcia and San Juan showed up yesterday at the NCRPO regional investigation and detective management division to explain their side.

Eleazar said Garcia is facing an administrative case for grave neglect of duty, which is punishable by suspension of up to 59 days without pay.

Valenzuela police chief Senior Superintendent David Poklay reminded his men not to sleep on the job.– Marc Jayson Cayabyab