THE whistleblower on the controversial “vaccine slot for sale’ anomaly can now heave a sigh of relief.

This after Philippine National Police chief General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar ordered the withdrawal of the criminal charges filed against the businesswoman who cried foul after being included in a complaint against the suspects in the scam although she was the one who exposed them.

“After a thorough review of the cases that were filed against those involved in the vaccine/vaccine slot for sale, our legal team came up with the conclusion that Ms. Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera should not have been included in the criminal complaint based on the appreciation of the pieces of evidence on hand.

“With this development, I already instructed the CIDG to withdraw the cases filed against her before the Mandaluyong City Prosecutor’s Office in the soonest possible time. The cases against Cyle Cedric Bonifacio and Melvin Gutierrez remain,” Gen. Eleazar said in a press statement.

The PNP chief also ordered the administrative relief of Lieutenant Colonel Arnold Moleta as chief of the CIDG Eastern Metro Manila District Field Unit for committing errors in the conduct of their investigation into the anomaly.

“Ang mali ay mali at hindi dapat pinaninindigan. Sa halip, ito ay itinatama upang hindi na maulit, at upang kapulutan din ng aral para maging maayos ang pagsisilbi sa taumbayan. Kagaya ng ipinangako ko kagabi, mananagot ang dapat managot kung may pagkukulang o pagkakamali na nangyari dito,” he said.

“Therefore, I have already ordered the relief of Police LtCol Arnold Moleta as the chief of the CIDG Eastern Metro Manila District Field Unit for lapse in judgment and for command responsibility in the conduct of investigation.

“Let this serve as a reminder to all our personnel that if you are assigned to do a task, always make sure that you do your best, and do it right,” he stressed.

However, Gen. Eleazar said this incident “will not affect our determination to run after those who would dare to take advantage of our kababayan using the government’s vaccination program.”

“Patuloy kaming nakatutok sa mga kasong katulad na ito at nanawagan kami ng patuloy din na tulong upang hindi mabigyan ng oportunidad ang mga taong nagsasamantala lalo na ngayong panahon ng pandemya,” he said.

On Friday, Gen. Eleazar ordered a review of the criminal charges filed against the businesswoman as the latter cried foul over her inclusion in the lawsuit claiming the public owes her a debt of gratitude as she was one who exposed the anomaly.

“I personally read the statements made by Ms Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera in the social media and was made aware of her television interview wherein she aired her side regarding the issue of the sale of vaccination/vaccination slots,” said the PNP chief.

“It is in this regard that I ordered both the Directors of the CIDG and the ACG to review the cases that were filed against her before the Mandaluyong Prosecutor’s Office in order to check if there were lapses in the conduct of investigation and in the preparation of the cases.

I assure Ms Dizon-Cabrera that I will personally monitor the progress of my order—and to correct if there are things that need correcting in the interest of truth and justice regarding this ‘vaccine/vaccine slot for sale’ controversy,” Gen. Eleazar said.

Hours before Gen. Eleazar issued his order, Lt. Col. Moleta said that the businesswoman was included in the complaint sheet because of her conversations with the supposed seller she posted on Twitter last May.

Moleta said Dizon-Cabrera knew who the seller was. “Based sa technical investigation na kinonduct ng Anti-Cybercrime Group, nakita po namin du’n na mayroon siyang transaction with someone according to her post in Twitter account,” said the official.

The businesswoman, along with Cyle Cedric Bonifacio and Melvin Gutierrez were charged before the Mandaluyong City Prosecutor’s Office last Monday for estafa under Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code and violation of Section 21-H of Republic Act 11032 or the Anti-Red Tape Law of 2007 and Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Gen. Eleazar said that their investigation showed that it appears that after receiving the ‘reward money,’ Bonifacio apparently got the idea to offer vaccination slots for cash.

The suspect first tried to offer the service to his former high school classmate who rejected his sales pitch and made the public aware of Bonifacio’s illegal activity, the PNP chief said.

Gen. Eleazar said that there may be other still involved in the scheme but gave the public assurance that the PNP-CIDG and the PNP-ACG have not stopped their probe on the matter.

“Magsilbing babala sana sa ibang magtatangkang dayain ang sistema ng ating national vaccination program ang ating pagsasampa ng kaso laban kay Bonifacio at Gutierrez,” he said.

He also reminded the public that vaccination is offered for free by the different Local Government Units and that all they needed to do is to register and wait for their schedule to get the jab.

“Wala po tayong dapat na ilabas na pera para sa pagpapabakuna,” the PNP chief stressed.