Thursday, November 15, 2007 City cop chief admits men’s blunder By Jay Dooma Balnig
ILOILO City Police Office (ICPO) Director Wesley Barayuga acknowledged his personnel’s mistake in picking up pieces of crime evidence in an operation initiated by a separate authority.
Barayuga admitted that the leading agency, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (Pdea), has the full jurisdiction over the case and has the right to keep all evidence in the crime in its custody.
He was made to speak after reports came out that his men picked up the now “missing” expensive cellular phones of the arrested drug “dealer” and cohort at the scene of the buy-bust operation.
There were validated reports that his men from Jaro, who responded to the scene, also gathered and kept other pieces of evidence together with the Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco).
It was alleged that the Jaro police "secured" the phones but failed to list them in their record as among the things they’ve taken.
Barayuga said it is indeed the Pdea that must lead the investigation and make use of all the evidence to prosecute the offenders and not the members of the Jaro police.
The phones police took were reportedly owned by the arrested “drug pusher,” Noel "White" Deniros and his cohort JJ Perez of Housing Mandurriao, Iloilo City.
The two were hospitalized after sustaining gunshot wounds during a shootout with the operatives of Pdea and the Regional Special Operations Group (ROSG).
They were nabbed together with five other companions.
