PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) Chief Archie Gamboa has ordered the relief of 11 policemen of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan who were accused of kidnapping and killing six alleged drug suspects.
The 11 policemen were placed under restrictive custody of the Bulacan Police Provincial Office. Charges of kidnapping, serious illegal detention with murder and planting of evidence have been filed against them.
They are Major Leo Commendador dela Rosa, DEU chief, and his subordinates Police Staff Sergeants Benjie Enconado, Jayson Legaspi, Irwin Yuson, Edmund Catubay Jr.; Police Corporals Jay Leoncio, Herbert Hernandez, Raymond Bayan, Raul Malgapo; and Patrolmen Erwin Sabido and Rusco Madla.
They had claimed that the six alleged drug suspects resisted arrest and engaged them in a gunfight during separate anti-illegal drugs operations from February 14 to 18.
The NBI, however, said the police abducted and killed the six drug suspects in a secluded area, before planting evidence on them.
The NBI was able to obtain photos of the suspects who were blindfolded and handcuffed inside a police station, moments before they were killed.
Gamboa has assured the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the PNP’s full cooperation in its investigation.
He said any unlawful actions of the indicted policemen are “purely their own and are not sanctioned by any official orders, policy, or regulation.”
“I will not tolerate any wrongdoing in the service. Those accused must be made to answer for their criminal acts. In the meantime, it is best that they are relieved from duty to eliminate any suspicion of whitewash or coddling,” Gamboa said.
PNP spokesperson Bernard Banac said the Internal Affairs Service will also conduct an investigation on the matter.
“Yes, kasama na rin ang pag-iimbestiga ng Internal Affairs Service sa kanilang magiging pananagutan administratibo na maaaring kanilang ikakasibak sa PNP, dismissal sa PNP service,” he said. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)