THE officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Tabuelan Police Station, Captain Allen June Germodo, has been tagged as the bagman of suspended Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr.
During the Senate investigation into the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and eight others on March 14, 2023, Siaton, Negros Oriental Mayor Fritz Diaz said Germodo would also collect money from E-Sabong and Small Town Lottery (STL) and distribute this among fellow police officers.
Diaz’s revelations on Tuesday, April 18, caught the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) by surprise.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Mark Gifter Sucalit, CPPO deputy director for operations, they never thought that one of their personnel would be linked to the controversial Teves.
“Yes, we were surprised on this report, although not officially on one of our personnel implicated sa (in the) Degamo case,” Sucalit said.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier described Teves as the “highest mastermind” and “financier” in Degamo’s murder.
Dermodo, for his part, denied the allegations, saying he has been assigned in Cebu Province since October 2022.
Prior to his appointment as OIC of the Tabuelan Police Station last March 21, Germodo was assigned at the Oslob Police Station.
He said he will attend the Senate hearing to clear his name.
The police captain said he was assigned at the Santa Catalina Police Station in 2020 and then at the Zamboangita Police Station in 2021, both in Negros Oriental, before being transferred to Cebu.
“Kana... dili gyud na tinuod... Mao nang moadto bitaw ko karon sa Senado sir kay akoa gyud nang iklaro gyud... og unsa na sya kay ang estorya didto bagman sa STL pero nganong nahimo man tang bagman sa STL nga na relieved nako diha... mga last year pa? Wala naman ko diha sa Negros Oriental dia naman ko sa Cebu Province,” Germodo said.
(That’s why I’m going to the Senate to clear things up. The story is I was a bagman for the STL but how could that be when I was already relieved since last year? I was no longer in Negros Oriental because I was already here in Cebu Province.)
Despite the development, the CPPO has not issued a relief order against Germodo.
Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Ace Pelare, spokesman of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas Director Brigadier General Anthony Aberin, said they will be monitoring the Senate hearing, which started on Monday, April 17.
Pelare said he is confident the Philippine National Police (PNP) will be able to overcome these accusations like it has done on other issues that plagued the organization.
“These issues that are haunting or that affect the PNP, we expect that the PNP can surpass this one and we can survive as any other issues in the past happened. We believed that core values of the PNP are intact. We believed that the majority if not all of the police officers in the PNP are true to their job,” he said.
Many police officers in Negros Oriental have been taken into custody at Camp Crame for their allegedly involvement in the killing of Degamo and eight others. (AYB)