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2 ex-cops linked to ‘missing sabungeros’ yield to IMEG

January 21, 2023 Alfred P. Dalizon 285 views

TWO policemen ordered dismissed from the force by Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. last December for their involvement in the abduction of an “e-sabong” (online cockfighting) master agent in Laguna have surrendered to the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG), the Journal Group learned on Saturday.

PNP-IMEG Director Brigadier General Warren F. de Leon said the two suspects, a patrolman, and a corporal, were both formerly assigned with the Laguna Provincial Police Office (PPO).

The official said that the patrolman yielded to his men at 2:45 p.m. Friday in Rizal, Laguna, while the corporal followed suit five hours later in Liliw municipality.

The IMEG Luzon Field Unit, joined by officers from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 4-A Regional Special Operations Unit under Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez and the Laguna PPO headed by Col. Randy Glenn G. Silvio launched a massive operation to get the suspects prompting them to turn themselves over voluntarily after feeling the “pressure” of the hunt, said De Leon.

Now locked up in separate Laguna Police detention facilities, the accused, as well as another patrolman, were among the three men ordered arrested by Judge Luvida Roque of the San Pablo City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 29 last Tuesday for kidnapping with serious illegal detention and robbery with violence.

The judge recommended no bail for the suspects concerning the kidnapping, with serious illegal detention cases filed against them. However, they were allowed to post a P400,000 bail for the robbery with violence case hurled at them.

“After a series of negotiations, our IMEG Team 4-A convinced these two former PNP personnel who have placed the entire police force in a bad light to surrender and face the charges against them,” said De Leon.

The suspects were identified as among the men who posed as “members” of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) when they kidnapped Ricardo Lasco in his residence in Barangay San Lucas 1 in San Pedro City in Laguna on August 30, 2021.

The suspects then claimed they were “serving” a warrant of arrest for large-scale estafa against the victim, who has gone missing since then.

Investigators said that the suspects also took with them some P10.4 million worth of cash and other personal belongings of the victim and his relatives as they left the scene.

“May these efforts, remind our kababayans that the PNP, under the leadership of our Chief PNP, Gen. Azurin is giving its best to cleanse the organization of a few undesirable members. The PNP is very serious and concerned with ensuring that the Filipino people get the kind of service they can trust and depend. Mahirap ngunit walang impossible sa organisasyong nagkakaisa,” De Leon said.

Last December, Azurin ordered the dismissal from the service of the two suspects, along with three others, in connection with the Lasco case.

The five were earlier placed under restrictive custody at the PRO4-A headquarters.

Last November 25, the Department of Justice (DOJ) found probable cause to indict the three Laguna cops on charges of robbery and kidnapping while it cleared the two policemen.

The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) welcomed the indictment of the accused as it maintained that all efforts are still underway to resolve the other cases of the “missing sabungeros.”

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