10 CIDG men jailed for robbery-extortion, kidnapping
TEN officers of the Southern Metro Manila District Field Unit of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group have been locked up at the PNP Custodial Facility after being accused of involvement in a robbery-extortion and kidnapping case in Tondo, Manila, PNP-CIDG director, Major General Nicolas D. Torre III said on Thursday.
The official said the 10 were relieved from the SMMDFU stationed in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City and were brought straight to the PNP lock-up facility following the release of an investigation report from the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group last April 21.
All were also stripped of their PNP-issued firearms and badges. The names of the 10 were withheld, although sources said they include some Police Commissioned Officers led by the head of the unit.
The PNP-IMEG, headed by Brigadier Gen. Bonard D. Briton investigated the SMMDFU personnel following a complaint that they arrested some persons during their operation in Tondo, Manila.
The probe showed that the accused personnel raided a warehouse at First Tondo Complex in Tondo, Manila, around 3:45 p.m. last February 17 and brought some persons, including Chinese nationals, they found in the area to their office in Taguig City.
The CIDG men reportedly demanded tens of millions of pesos from the Chinese nationals. To cover up their misdeeds, the accused reportedly took the CCTV digital video recording machine in the area.
However, they failed to find out that a nearby establishment also has a CCTV camera which recorded the exact date and time of their operations as well as their movements in the area.
That CCTV recording was the ‘smoking gun’ as it established that the two men who were later reported to have been arrested by the accused in a ‘gun buy-bust operation’ days later were already arrested on February 17.
The PNP-IMEG recommended that administrative cases for grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of a police officer and neglect of duty under National Police Commission Memorandum Circular No. 2016-002 be filed against the accused.
The charges were in relation to their violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013 particularly ‘planting of evidence,’ kidnapping, and serious illegal detention and unlawful arrest under the Revised Penal Code.
Maj. Gen. Torre said that after he received the PNP-IMEG report last April 28, he ordered the immediate relief of the 10 officers and men of the SMMDFU of the CIDG National Capital Region Field Unit and reassigned them to the CIDG Personnel Holding and Administrative Branch before being placed under restriction at the PNP custodial facility,
“Hindi ko papayagan at itolerate ang mga ganitong pangyayari sa CIDG. Ito ay bahagi ng pagsunod at pagsuporta sa programa ng ating Chief PNP, General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil na zero tolerance sa ganitong mga gawain,” said Maj. Gen. Torre.
“Sadyang nakakalungkot nga lamang na makakita ng ganitong mga pagkakataon kung saan ang ilan sa ating mga tauhan ay nawawalay pa rin ng landas,” he added.
Maj. Gen. Torre said that the actions he made on the 10 SMMDFU personnel serve as a warning to all CIDG members that there will be no leniency to those who commit even the slightest infraction of ordinance, violations of laws, and commission of crimes.
