ACTING on orders of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) is fast-tracking the administrative investigation of five Nueva Ecija policemen involved in the gruesome kidnapping-murder of a lady online seller in Palayan City which automatically will result in their dismissal from the force, the Journal Group learned on Friday.

PNP-IAS Inspector General Alfegar M. Triambulo said their “motu-proprio” investigation against the accused in the Nadia Casar case has already started, with the Regional IAS 3 and the PNP-IAS Intelligence and Investigation Division leading the probe.

Triambulo said the Nueva Ecija Provincial IAS headed by Lieutenant Colonel Jose Lalimarmo has coordinated with concerned police stations and the SOCO team assigned in the case as part of their probe.

Investigators have also visited the place where the body of the victim was exhumed.

The official said they are also coordinating with the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) Luzon Field Unit led by Colonel Frederick Obar in their investigation which will be used as basis in filing administrative charges for grave misconduct against the accused policemen.

The PNP-AKG headed by Brigadier Gen. Rudolph B. Dimas is handling the criminal charges against the policemen with the help of the victim’s family and witnesses to the case. At present, four of the accused have been charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

PNP-AKG investigators are also taking the affidavits of three other witnesses to bolster their case against the suspects who are yet to be charged before the DOJ.

The last of the five Nueva Ecija policemen implicated in the gruesome kidnapping-slay of Casar whose body they burned and buried in a farm in Palayan City on Thursday surrendered to his superiors to face the charges against him, Police Regional Office (PRO) 3 director Brig. General Valeriano T. de Leon said.

Police Senior Master Sergeant Rowen Martin, a 41-year-old member of the Cabanatuan City Police Station under the Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office, yielded a few hours before the deadline given to him to surrender, said the official.

The PRO3 director said the accused turned himself voluntarily to Lieutenant Colonel Julis Caezar Manucdoc, the officer-in-charge of the Cabanatuan City police 12:30 p.m. Thursday.

The suspect was accompanied by his lawyer Shiela Gatchalian when he presented himself to his superior and surrendered his service firearm.

On Tuesday, Eleazar ordered the dismissal from the service of the five Nueva Ecija policemen accused of involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Casar.

“Mariin nating kinokondena ang pangyayaring ito. Sinisiguro ko sa inyong masisibak sa serbisyo at pananagutin natin sa batas ang lahat ng pulis na sangkot sa pagdukot at pagpatay kay Nadia Casar. Ang mga ganitong utak kriminal at sagad sa buto ang kasamaan ay nababagay mabulok sa kulungan,” the top cop said.

Eleazar directed the PNP-IAS to immediately initiate summary dismissal proceedings against the five cops and tasked the PNP-AKG and the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) headed by Brig. Gen. Flynn E. Dongbo to track down the remaining suspects.

The Journal Group earlier reported the case of Nasar which prompted a thorough investigation by the PNP-AKG leading to the identification of the suspects and the arrest of some of them.

The remains of the victim were exhumed by agents of the PNP-AKG, PNP-IMEG, PRO3 and the Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office in Sitio Pinagpala, Bgy. Imelda, Palayan City around 2:30 p.m. last Sunday.

The PNP chief also ordered a continuing investigation to determine if there were other policemen involved in the illegal activities of the five suspects identified as Staff Sergeant Benedict Reyes of the Sta. Rosa Municipal Police Station; SSgt. June Mallillin of the Palayan City Police Station; Corporal Julius Alcantara of the Nueva Ecija PPO Drug Enforcement Unit; MSgt. Martin and SSgt. Drextemir Esmundo of the Cabiao Municipal Police Station.

Two civilians identified as Franklin Macapagal and Dario Robarios were also implicated in the kidnapping-murder case by a witness to the crime.

According to Dimas, their investigation showed that Casar and a Grab driver she hired were kidnapped by at least five armed men around 1:45 p.m. last July 20 in Bgy. Tagpos, Sta. Rosa City in Nueva Ecija.

The Grab driver told PNP-AKG investigators he was robbed of his mobile phone and P4,500 cash by the suspects before being released around 3 a.m. of the next day.

Dimas said that following his surrender, Alcantara named his four colleagues as the men who kidnapped, killed and burned the victim. Another witness who happened to be a caretaker of the farm where the victim was buried revealed that she was ordered by Mallillin, Martin and Esmundo to bury the woman whom they placed in a sack after killing her.

The crime scene was processed by the Nueva Ecija SOCO Team.

The PNP-AKG director said Reyes was arrested inside the Sta. Rosa City police headquarters last Thursday evening. He said the policeman was positively identified by the Grab driver-turned state witness as the one who hired Casar to ferry her to Nueva Ecija.

Dimas described Casar as an online seller from Cavite who hired the Grab driver to ferry her to Sta. Rosa City where she was to meet one “Kelly” who has been identified as Macapagal.

The official said that after the meeting, the two victims were seized by the suspects and taken to their safehouse where they eventually released the driver unharmed after divesting him of his cash and mobile phone.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon