FIVE policemen of Bacolod City Police Station 2 will be facing administrative charges in connection with an incident that left a detainee beaten by his fellow prisoner.
Senior Police 1 Jonito Pastrana, Investigation and Detective Management Branch pre-charge-evaluator of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), said Monday that the five policemen were on duty when the incident happened.
Pastrana identified the policemen as Police Officer (PO) 2 Benjamin Jamora and PO1 Errol Corral, Randy Abello, Gegger Sebuan and Christopher Profeta.
Pastrana said the family of former Police Station 2 detainee Henjie Montano will be filing charges for negligence and irregularities in performance of duty against the policemen before the People's Law Enforcement Board anytime this week.
Police records showed that Montano was detained at Police Station 2 on August 14 for safe keeping after he allegedly created alarm and scandal in a bar at Lacson Street.
But Montano was allegedly mauled by his fellow detainee and former policeman Rodel Gelbore. Montano was released from detention the following day but he ended up in a hospital due to injuries that were allegedly inflected by Gelbore.
Pastrana said criminal charges for serious physical injuries were already filed by Montano's family against Gelbore before the City Prosecutor's Office last Friday as the x-ray examination results of Montano showed that he had a broken rib.
City Councilor Dindo Ramos will hear the complaint once it will be filed.
Police Station 2 commander Police Inspector Attunaga was also asked by the IDMB to submit his explanation regarding the said incident on his station.
Senior Superintendent Celestino Guara, BCPO director, said the incident will also set as an example to the other police stations in Bacolod to prevent such incident from happening again.
Guara said there were lapses on the side of the policemen of Police Station 2 because they did not give attention to their detainees.
Guara, however, clarified that this is not the reason Attunaga will be transferred to Station 9 in October and will be replaced by Chief Inspector Noel Polines.
Attunaga's transfer has been planned even before the alleged mauling happened, he said.
Attunaga said they respect the decision of Montano's family if it will file administrative charges against the said policemen, noting that they are willing to face the consequences if they have indeed committed lapses.
He said after the mauling incident, he already took measures to ensure that no similar incidents will happen again. (MAP/CNC)