EIGHT police officers assigned in the Talamban Police Station in Cebu City have been relieved from their posts following the release of security camera footage showing them mauling three men in an anti-drug operation in Barangay Carreta.
The footage has gone viral and captured the attention of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
In a Facebook (FB) post, Osmeña identified six of the police officers who mauled Eddie Basillote and two of his companions in a bingo gaming shop in Carreta last April 18.
He said the team leader was Police Staff Sgt. Reoven Carmelo Rota. Rota, he said, was accompanied by Police Sgt. Brendro Tudtud and four other police officers identified as “Tagalog,” “Magdali,” “Lagunsad” and “Adalim.” The other two remain unidentified.
All eight police officers have been reassigned to the office of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Royina Garma, where they are prohibited from conducting anti-illegal drug operations.
Talamban Police Station Chief Elisandro Quijano remains in his post.
Garma confirmed that six of the eight relieved police officers were the ones the mayor named on his FB post.
But she clarified that the faces of the police officers were not clear on the security camera video. However, since Osmeña already has their names, Garma said her office will investigate those who have been identified.
The police official stood pat on her earlier statement that the video could not prove that the men who mauled Basillote and his two companions were operatives of the Talamban Police Station.
“For now, we don’t have actual evidence. It’s just an information that we have to validate first,” Garma told reporters
The CCPO director questioned Osmeña’s constant criticism of the city police.
“It’s really baffling that whenever we commit a mistake, he (Osmeña) would heavily criticize us. But whenever we have successful operations, he never praises us even one bit,” Garma said in Cebuano.
More allegations
In a separate interview, Police Regional Office 7 Director Debold Sinas said they would seek the permission of the Commission on Elections to facilitate the relief of the eight police officers.
Section 261 (h) of the Omnibus Election Code “prohibits any public official from making or causing any transfer or detail whatever of any officer or employee in the civil service including public school teachers, within the election period except upon prior approval of the commission.”
“We will investigate the allegations against the police officers. Rest assured that if proven that there are abuses, we will file a case against all members of the team,” Sinas said in Cebuano.
He said the Regional Internal Affairs Service 7 will conduct the investigation.
Last Friday, April 26, Mayor Osmeña issued a memorandum directing Garma to submit the names of the police operatives involved in Basillote’s arrest last April 18.
According to Osmeña, 15 persons informed him through text message that it was Rota who threatened to shoot a pregnant woman, stole one of the victims’ cash and hit the head of the infant, as shown in the viral video.
The mayor’s FB post also shows photos of Rota, screenshots of the security camera video and a text message pointing to Rota as the policeman caught on camera mauling the three men.
“Colonel Garma, you said that the men in the video were unfamiliar to you and that you were unsure if they were even police. You even offered P200,000 for information identifying these men. Are you ready with your P200,000?” part of the post’s caption stated.
The CCPO director, after Osmeña announced last Friday that he would give P100,000 for every policeman identified, said she was willing to give P200,000 to anyone who would serve as witness, execute an affidavit and show her evidence related to the incident.
The mayor’s FB post also shows a screenshot of a private text conversation between Osmeña and a message sender that says Rota is a protector of a certain Jeffrey Capalaran and Brian Paray.
Capalaran and Paray allegedly supply shabu in Barangays Talamban and Pulangbato. (from AYB of SuperBalita Cebu/JKV, WBS)