POLICE Regional Office (PRO)-Central Luzon Director Brigadier General Valeriano De Leon has vowed a swift but thorough investigation on the alleged buy-bust operation in Olongapo City that was caught on video and went viral on social media.
The video, which was captured by a CCTV camera, showed four men in civilian clothes but were allegedly police officers forcefully pushing a man into a car.
The man, allegedly a drug suspect, was seen resisting to go inside the car while an older man, supposedly the suspect's father, tried to stop the arrest.
Since the video went viral, netizens cried foul about the alleged yet another incident of "brutality" committed by policeman against innocent persons.
According to De Leon, the video showed the personnel of Olongapo City Police Station 4 (OCP4) Drug Enforcement Unit implementing a warrantless arrest against the suspect, who was later identified as Nesty Gongora.
Gongora, 28, allegedly sold a sachet of methamphetamine hydrochloride weighing 0.030 grams amounting to P200 to the poseur buyers, which led to his supposed arrest.
To ensure no whitewash on the investigation, De Leon said the OCPO4 station commander was already relieved pending the results of the inquiry.
"We are continuously gathering all information relevant to the said video to find out the truth and unearth the facts surrounding the incident as we do not condone any unlawful demeanor perpetrated by our members," he said.
Meanwhile, the barangay captain in Gongora's place of residence reportedly issued a certificate affirming the suspect tested positive for illegal drug use, and that he was among those who surrendered to local authorities and participated in the Bahay Pagbabago program.
Also, five persons identified as Rusty Cuevas, Vanessa Gongora, Nestor Gongora, Jerome Delos Reyes and a John Doe were also charged with obstruction of justice after they tried to protect the suspect and physically hitting policemen during the arrest.
"Still, we guarantee that there will be no whitewash in the investigation and any infraction and wrongdoing committed by our policemen will never be tolerated. I vow not to tolerate my personnel's mistakes if the allegations are proven true and we assure everyone that appropriate punishment will be meted as warranted by the evidence," De Leon said.