PHILIPPINE National Police chief General Debold M. Sinas yesterday assured the citizenry of an unrelenting campaign against corrupt and other erring members of the force especially those involved in robbery-extortion and illegal drug activities.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame, the top cop said that six police personnel are now facing criminal and administrative charges for involvement in corrupt activities.
He said that one of the six, identified as Staff Sergeant Carlo Sison, was arrested for robbery-extortion by agents of the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group under Coonel Thomas Frias Jr. and the National Capital Region Police Office headed by Brigadier Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. last week.
Sison was arrested for reportedly using an alleged drug list to extort money from people. He has been stripped of his firearm and was automatically put on a leave of absence that will prevent him from getting his salary.
On the other hand, Staff Sergeants Gerald Capuz and Ernan Mullasgo, both assigned with the Camalig Municipal Police Station in Albay were arrested last December 15 for reportedly conspiring with two civilians to extort P2 million from a businessman. Members of the PNP Intelligence Group headed by Colonel Warren F. de Leon led the sting.
Two others, Corporal Bryan Mataan and Patrolman Abel Sudkaren are now under the custody of the Cordillera police for their involvement in a murder case along Labey-Lacamen Road in Ambassador, Tublay, Benguet last November 12.
The two were accused of abducting and then beheading a man in what investigators described as a case triggered by “tribal conflict.”
Gen. Sinas said that another identified as Lieutenant Joy Line Cumbao was apprehended for presenting a falsified RT-PCR test at the Davao City International Airport.
It turned out that Cumbao, assigned with the PNP Crime Laboratory presented the RT-PCR negative test of one of her classmates with her name already in it.
However, a check with Camp Crame showed that Cumbao did not take an RT-PCR test. The papers she presented was fake and she is now facing charges for falsification of public documents.
“Bagong officer ito who will be facing charges for grave misconduct and dishonesty. Hindi ito dapat pamarisan, bagong-bagong tenyente pa lang eh ganyan na ang ginagawa. I will personnally see her dismissed and the four others once proven guilty,” Gen. Sinas said.
46 COPS DRUG-POSITIVE SO FAR THIS YEAR
The PNP chief said that 46 policemen have tested positive for shabu form January to date, 18 of them from the PNP National Headquarters and 20 from the National Capital Region Police Office.
He said that latest to test positive for substance abuse were five members of the PNP Special Action Force he identified as Patrolmen Alejandro Espina, Joshua Gaico, Karl del Castillo, Ronel Vista and Bernard Poe Diego.
Two others from the NCRPO identified as Master Sergeant Leonardo Mariano Jr. and Patrolman Ferdinand Nicomedes also turned out to be positive for shabu use during initial screening and a follow-up confirmatory test conducted by the PNP Crime Laboratory headed by Brigadier Gen. Steve B. Ludan.
Gen. Sinas said he has ordered a thorough investigation into the cases of the five SAF troopers. “We’re conducting an assessment on this. What really happened at bakit limang patrolman ang agad nag-positive for drugs,” he said.
