SIX policeman have been dismissed over the illegal arrest and harassment of Moises Padilla, Negros Oriental Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo in 2017.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año reminded policemen to avoid meddling in political affairs.
“We have been saying this: ‘No one is above the law’. Itong dismissal ng anim na pulis ay patunay na we remain in the straight path of justice and we continue to uphold the Constitutional protection against illegal search and arrest,” Año said in a statement Sunday, June 27, 2021.
The six policemen were dismissed by the National Police Commission (Napolcom), which oversees the Philippine National Police (PNP) and is chaired by Año.
Those dismissed were former Moises Padilla town police chief Allan Reloj and his men, namely, Ricardo Campos Dingcong Jr., Nobel Perante, Felix Corejado Pesales Jr., Michael Mondido and Darryl Ducay Dormido.
They were found guilty of grave misconduct and grave irregularities in the performance of their duties.
Their eligibility and retirement benefits have been forfeited. They are also banned from holding any public office.
The cases against the policemen stemmed from the alleged unlawful arrest of Yulo, who was the town’s vice mayor, along with her husband Felix Mathias at a checkpoint along Barangay Crossing Magallon in Moises Padilla in 2017.
Año said the conduct of the checkpoint and the search conducted on the couple’s vehicle were illegal.
"The search performed by the respondents on the complainants was unlawful because aside from violations of the PNP Police Operational Procedures, they also failed to prove the area where the checkpoint was placed was within their immediate control,” Año said.
He said investigators found that the incident was politically related as the Yulo family was the political rival of Moises Padilla mayor Magdaleno Peña in the 2019 elections. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)