Admin case trial vs cop in kidnap held in jail

THE trial of an administrative case against a police officer accused of kidnapping a medical representative in June was held inside the Davao City Jail Monday morning.

In a phone interview, Davao City jail warden, Superintendent Isabelo V. Cartin Jr. said the hearing of the grave misconduct case against Police Officer 1 Mahkael Oliver Dicay was conducted inside the jail since there was no court order released yet to allow the accused to leave the detention facility for the hearing of his administrative case at the Police Regional Office (PRO) Davao Region.

Dicay, member of the First Maneuver Company under the Regional Public Safety Batallion (RPSB) based in Camp Catitipan in Davao City, allegedly abducted Vanessa Mutus, 24, on June 28.

The room used for the case trial was the Alternative Learning System (ALS) classroom, Cartin said.

Present during the hearing were Chief Inspector Gregorio Cuevas Jr., summary hearing officer, SPO1 Dominador Vitor as the prosecutor, and lawyer Bibiano Bustamante, counsel for the defense.

Cartin said most administrative cases of police officers go through summary dismissal proceedings, but the case of Dicay is different because he wanted to vindicate himself.

In a text message, Bustamante refused to discuss the case trial as per request of his client.

Bustamante is also Dicay's counsel for the kidnapping case filed against him by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Davao region.

Dicay was arrested by NBI agents in an entrapment operation outside a pawnshop in Barangay Matina Crossing around 5 p.m.

The City Prosecution Office found probable case to charge Dicay and recommended no bail for his temporary liberty. He pleaded not guilty when arraigned on August 1. (ANC)