FOUR officers in the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) are in hot water after a suspected drug pusher accused them of accepting protection money.
Senior Supt. Joel Doria, the CCPO director, has ordered an investigation on the officers, some of whom are assigned in Police Station 10.
He said there are three other officers from other police stations who are allegedly accepting payola from a drug personality. But the police official did not divulge the names pending an investigation.
One of these officers surfaced after Lolita Dionson Maranga was caught along with Virginia Molina in a buy-bust by the City Intelligence Branch and City Anti-Illegal Drugs in Barangay Tejero last Saturday dawn.
Maranga accused a junior non-commissioned officer in Police Station 10 of often asking for P5,000 a week from her. She has executed an affidavit naming the officer.
The suspect claimed she already stopped selling shabu, after the police requested her. She believes the police officer framed her.
Doria, however, said the operation that led to Maranga’s arrest was legitimate.
Police Regional Office 7 Director Noli Taliño said they still receive reports through text messages and letters about officers who are accepting drug money.
“Meron pa. Hindi lang isa, hindi lang dalawa (There’s more. Not just one or two) ,” he said. “Kung ma-confirm sa pag-validate na talagang protector sila ng illegal drugs, kakasuhan natin sila (If we confirm that they’re illegal drug protectors, they’ll have to face cases).”
Taliño urged the erring officers to surrender or else they could be caught in operations.
For his part, Doria said he will relieve the officers if the investigation confirms their involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Last Aug. 3, former police officer Dave Agcol was killed in a buy-bust in his residence in Naga City, while his wife Maria Genevieve-an active police officer-was arrested by the Regional Special Operations Group.
Police seized three pistols, magazines, bullets, three cellphones, and two big and 12 small packs of shabu worth P613,000 from the Agcols’ residence.