Monday, July 26, 2004
Cops didn’t say they were police when they arrested school kids
IF there was any coordination, it was after the arrest.
So said Emeliano Pequero, night principal of Don Vicente Rama Memorial National High School (formerly Basak National High School) on the arrest of two children inside the school Tuesday last week.
He said warrant server SPO3 Cecilio Dayanan, of Mambaling Police Station, neither introduced himself as a policeman nor informed them that he was arresting the children.
Pequero is among those the Cebu City Commission for the Welfare and Protection of Children (CCCWPC) will get as witnesses against Dayanan and PO3 Ariel Colosos.
“We were surprised to learn he was a policeman. We were informed about it only after the children were inside the office,” he said.
Colosos arrived after Dayanan arrested the children, who were charged with qualified trespass to dwelling, inside the principal’s office.
Senior Insp. Doroteo Mantos earlier explained that Dayanan coordinated with the school principal in arresting the minors.
Pequero said that as a professional, he will tell what exactly happened, regardless of who will benefit from his testimony.
He said that Dayanan, wearing civilian clothes, came in the morning and talked with his administrative assistant Marcela Algadite, who told the policeman that the children belonged to the night class.
Dayanan did not tell Algadite why he was looking for the children, Pequero said.
The policeman returned around 4:30 p.m. while Pequero was at the gate after the night class’ flag ceremony.
Misunderstanding
He said he asked for Dayanan’s purpose in coming but was told he wanted to see Algadite.
“He should have coordinated before the arrest, not after. I was at the gate. He should have asked me,” Pequero said.
Dayanan went straight to Algadite and again reiterated his intention to see the minors, without identifying himself as a policeman and saying that he was serving a warrant of arrest.
Thinking Dayanan was just a relative and that his purpose was family-related, Pequero said he had the two minors brought to his office.
Only after the minors arrived did Dayanan identify himself as policeman.
Pequero said he refused to allow the minors to go and had to ask a teacher to get the minors’ father at home.
The incident caused a furor after irate residents went to the police station to question the arrest.
CCCWPC also questioned why the policeman could not wait for the minors to arrive home before arresting them. Arresting them in school exposed them to their peers’ ridicule.
The group promised to file a child abuse complaint at the Commission on Human Rights against the policemen. RHM
(July 26, 2004 issue)
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