SOME 58 police officers in Metro Manila, mostly from the Northern Police District, stand to be dismissed from service due to their alleged involvement in illegal activities, a police official said Thursday.
Philippine National Police (PNP)-Internal Affairs Service (IAS) inspector general Alfegar Triambulo said they have submitted their recommendation for the dismissal of the 58 policemen to PNP chief Ronald Dela Rosa.
The number includes the 15 Caloocan policemen who were involved in an illegal raid and two other Caloocan police who were implicated in the killing last August of 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz.
Once Dela Rosa signs and approves the recommendation, then it will be executory, Triambulo said.
He said majority of the 58 police officers were from the Northern Police District, which includes the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela.
He said some of the cases that were filed against the policemen stemmed from the referral of the PNP’s Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF), the unit created in January primarily to go after erring policemen as part of the PNP's internal cleansing.
The CITF earlier said they have arrested over 40 police officers due to their alleged involvement in illegal activities, such as extortion, gambling and illegal drugs.
It said 1,122 others are still under investigation.
Earlier, Triambulo revealed that they recommended the dismissal from the service of 17 Caloocan policemen.
Senior Inspector Warren Tano Peralta, Police Officers 1 Ariel Furlo, Marvin Poblete, Sherwin Rivera, Jay Gabata, Sampang Sampurna II, Rene Llanto, Louie Serrano, Jaypee Talay, Ronelio Julaton, Jay-ar Sabangan, Jaime Natividad, Michael Angelo Miguel and Joey Leaban and their commander Chief Inspector Timothy Aniway Jr. at the Caloocan City Police Security Precinct 4 were recommended for dismissal due to the conduct of an illegal search at the house of Gina Erobas in Barrio Sta. Rita, Barangay 188, Tala Caloocan City.
They also allegedly took some of Erobas’ belongings and cash amounting to P21,000 and even used a minor and a person with disability during the search. The incident was caught on closed circuit television (CCTV) camera installed inside the house.
The IAS also recommended the dismissal of Police Officers 1 Jeffrey Perez and Ricky Arquilita, who allegedly shot Arnaiz dead allegedly following a robbery complaint from a taxi driver.
The police officers, in their defense, claimed Arnaiz was killed after a gun fight but Triambulo said they found in their investigation and through the statements of the witnesses that they intentionally killed the teen. (SunStar Philippines)