Thursday, September 20, 2007 Drunk cop’s case angers chief
THE top police official in Central Visayas is angered and embarrassed by the incident involving a Mandaue police official who was allegedly drunk when he met a traffic accident and punched a television cameraman.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Silverio Alarcio Jr. said he was in Manila during the incident but saw the footage of Senior Insp. Jose Liddawa in a television report.
“Of course as the regional commander, nagalit tayo. Bakit naging ganu’n ang ugali niya,” he said in a radio dyLA interview. He said he was embarrassed when he saw the report.
Liddawa was driving home past Tuesday midnight when he figured in a head-on collision with the Nissan Frontier of ABS-CBN Cebu. Witness interviewed by ABS-CBN said Liddawa was driving on the wrong lane.
Liddawa was caught on tape getting into an argument with the ABS-CBN news crew, telling them “pulis ako (I’m a policeman).” He then allegedly punched cameraman Joel Noel.
Noel and reporter Ramil Paican, who was also present during the incident, went to Insp. Ramon Villar of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) yesterday afternoon to issue their statements on the incident.
The MCPO is conducting an investigation for possible criminal and administrative charges against Liddawa, who was relieved as Subangdaku police station chief.
Investigators gave Liddawa until Monday to answer why he should not be held liable for grave misconduct for his actions.
The Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division has been asked to conduct the administrative investigation for conduct unbecoming and grave misconduct on Liddawa.
ABS-CBN management reportedly still has to decide whether to file criminal charges.
Villar said they will go over Liddawa’s answer and resolve whether there is probable cause to hold the official accountable for grave misconduct. He said they will send their recommendation to the regional office.
Misconduct
Villar said the officer risks being penalized for grave misconduct for being drunk and attacking the television crew. He said Liddawa’s being drunk, despite being off-duty at the time, serves as an aggravating circumstance for the administrative complaint.
Paican, meanwhile, denied that the TV crew fought back, which reportedly caused Liddawa to be injured in the left eye. The ABS-CBN news report showed the police official on the ground.
In their affidavit, Paican and Noel said Liddawa fell and became unconscious during a scuffle.
Paican said it was possible that Liddawa fell and hit his own car’s windshield, breaking the glass and causing the injury on his eye.
Alarcio, meanwhile, said he will wait for the recommendation of the investigating division whether to impose preventive suspension on Liddawa.
National Police Commission (Napolcom) 7 Director Bernardo Calibo, in an interview, said his office is closely monitoring and coordinating with the PRO 7 in the investigation.
Calibo said Liddawa may lose his job because the maximum penalty of a grave misconduct offense is dismissal.
He said Liddawa is being investigated “not only because he was drunk, but because he committed an offense while drunk.”
According to a GMA 7 Balitang Bisdak report, Chief Supt. Ronald Roderos, deputy regional director for administration, plans to ask Chief Insp. Lucio Rosaroso, the regional police chaplain, to provide counseling to Liddawa as the latter is reportedly facing a family problem.
Alarcio, meanwhile, said the PRO 7 has been conducting values formation programs for police. He, however, said that like other organizations, “some go astray.”
Alarcio said he hopes that the public will not judge the entire police organization by Liddawa’s actuations. He said majority of the members of the Philippine National Police still abide by the standards of police service. (JST/OCP)
