PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Archie Gamboa said dismissed policemen are still under monitoring as part of their internal cleansing program.
“Under the PNP’s internal cleansing program, we continue to monitor dismissed personnel to check if they are still involved in illegal activities” he said.
“If these dismissed PNP members are still engaged in illegal activities, they will be treated as ordinary civilian criminals,” he added.
Gamboa made the statement following the killing of former patrolman Rico Moog Gutierrez, who allegedly coddled his uncle Jaime Moog who has a pending arrest warrant for kidnapping for ransom and is listed as the national most wanted person with a monetary reward of P500,000.
Gutierrez and two other men were killed after they allegedly engaged policemen in a firefight during a raid in a farm in Tiaong, Quezon on June 25, 2020. Seized during the operation were various firearms and illegal drugs.
After his stint in Quezon PNP, Gutierrez was reassigned to the Police Regional Office – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region but apparently went on Awol which led to his dismissal from the police service.
The PNP, following the order of President Rodrigo Duterte, assigned cops with derogatory records to Mindanao to stop their illegal activities.
From July 2016 to June 15, 2020, 14,572 erring personnel including 4,208 dismissed personnel were charged as part of the PNP policy on internal cleansing program.
A total of 7,376 suspended personnel were penalized while 770 police officers were demoted, 559 forfeited their salaries, 1,345 reprimanded, 101 restricted to quarters, and 164 had their privileges withheld. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)