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Ecija police chief says ‘punching’ incident fake news

September 1, 2022 Steve A. Gosuico 479 views

CABANATUAN CITY – The Nueva Ecija Police branded as “fake news” an alleged text or SMS (Short Message Service) police report which circulated in the province, claiming that Nueva Ecija top cop Col. Jess B. Mendez allegedly “punched” another police officer here on Wednesday afternoon.

“Fake news yan, hindi totoo iyan. Maging responsible sana tayo sa report natin,” he told the Journal Group.

NEPPO (Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office) Information Officer, Lt. Franklin Sindac even laughed off the report. “Paki-turn down po iyan, fake news po iyan hehehe.”

Newly-installed acting Cabanatuan City Police head Lt. Col. Lory E. Tarrazona, who replaced erstwhile police chief Lt. Col. Carl Omar Fiel, also denied the veracity of said report.

“This SMS is not official and unauthorized and did not come from our office. No such report was submitted by our office,” said Tarrazona, in a text message to the Journal Group on Thursday.

After denying said report, Mendez said what is “true” is that he is on his way out as provincial police director soon. “Kaya nga ‘di totoo iyan, huwag na natin patulan pa,” he phoned this reporter.

The “false” SMS report claimed that the “punching incident” occurred inside the Provincial Mobile Force Company (PMFC) compound here at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday and was reported to the Cabanatuan City Police at 9:10 a.m. Thursday.

The alleged victim, a Police Senior Master Sergeant, assigned to the EOD K-9 Unit, of Bgy. San Antonio, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, and the suspect is Mendez, the acting provincial director, who was assigned here on January 9, 2022.

The claim continued that the victim personally reported to the police that the police official had “repeatedly punched” him on different parts of his body without any valid reason.

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