65 Davao region cops under probe for ‘fixing’ crime records
SIXTY-FIVE policemen from Davao region are undergoing investigation for “massaging” their crime statistics in order to paint a good picture of the peace and order situation in the city and nearby provinces during the former Duterte administration.
The 65 have been relieved from their posts and transferred outside of Region 11 as part of the ongoing investigation, Philippine National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean S. Fajardo said.
Fajardo explained that the relief of the 65 are not connected to politics but was made to prevent them from influencing the ongoing investigation.
“Wala pong kinalaman ito sa pulitika. ‘Yung more than 60 policemen, some of them are Police Commissioned Officers who previously served as station commanders in different parts of the region until they were found to be maintaining double blotters in their stations,” said the PNP spokesperson.
Fajardo said that of the 65, a total of 32 are Police Commissioned Officers while the rest are Police Non-Commissioned Officers.
Of the 65, a total of 24 were transferred to the Police Regional Office 4-B in Mimaropa region; 21 in the Cordillera Administrative Region, eight at the PRO2 in Cagayan Valley and 12 at the PRO5 in Bicol region.
Former Police Regional Office 11 director and now PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director Brig. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III said he discovered the anomaly during his 1st two to three months as Southern Mindanao police director.
“Pinapakonti incidents, but what will happen when we use eschewed data? Palalabasin na ang isang lugar ay peaceful pero hindi naman. Una bawal ‘yon. The problem is ‘yung isang blotter, yun lang ang nare-report kaya lumalabas na ganun lang ang number ng certain crimes,” the official said.
Torre in particular said that he discovered a blotter report that there were 21 cases of murder and homicide compared to three incidents of physical injuries. “Meaning, once a week me patay and it’s really something that cannot be explained by the concerned officers,” he said.
The official also said that cases of killings can’t really be hidden by the police.
He said that the concerned policemen are facing dismissal from the service for grave misconduct.
“That’s lying, false reporting, that’s perjury. They can be dismissed from the service pero transferred muna sila sa ibang lugar to prevent them from influencing the ongoing investigation,” he said.
Earlier reports said that 65 police personnel assigned to the PRO11 in Davao region have been reassigned to different provinces in Luzon amid the ongoing rift between the Marcoses and the Romualdezes and the Duterte clan triggered by the Vice President’s threat to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and Speaker Ferdinand Martin R. Romualdez killed by a “hired gun.”
