THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, appealed for the issuance of warrants of arrest against the dismissed police officers facing multiple murder charges over the killing of four Army intelligence officers in Jolo, Sulu.

Major General Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesperson, issued the appeal after Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Debold Sinas said Monday, January 11, that the policemen have been released because no arrest warrant has been issued by the court.

“We hope this is not another lapse in judgement by the PNP leadership. AFP appeals to the court, on behalf of the bereaved family, to issue the warrants of arrest which we will help serve,” Arevalo said in a Twitter post Tuesday.

Multiple murder and planting of evidence charges were filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against the policemen in July 2021 before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

AFP Chief of Staff Gilbert Gapay, in a statement on Tuesday, said the DOJ filed a multiple murder case against the dismissed policemen before the Regional Trial Court in Jolo on January 4, 2021. The filing was done online.

Gapay said he was “extremely disappointed” by the release of the dismissed policemen.

“It is only unfortunate that despite the DOJ’s (Department of Justice) filing online of a multiple murder case before the Regional Trial Court in Jolo last January 4, 2021, no warrants of arrest have been issued by the court,” Gapay said in a statement late Monday evening.

Gapay assured the relatives of the slain personnel that the AFP will continuously coordinate with concerned government agencies for the arrest of the suspects.

“Once issued, we will help in the immediate and unimpeded service of said warrants to the named police personnel,” he said.

Sinas said among those who were released were Abdelzhimar H. Padjiri, Hanie U. Baddiri, Iskandar I. Susulan, Ernisar P. Sappal, Sulki M. Andaki and Moh Nur E. Pasani

They are all former members of the Jolo Municipal Police Station Alert Team.

Sinas said they were dismissed after the Internal Affairs Service found them guilty of four counts of grave misconduct for the murder and planting of evidence against Major Marvin Indammog, Captain Irwin Managuelod, Sergeant Jaime Velasco and Corporal Abdal Asula.

The four soldiers were killed after the policemen shot them at a checkpoint in Jolo on June 29, 2020.

The incident had prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the troops in Zamboanga City and in Jolo in a bid to prevent hostilities from breaking out between the military and the police. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)