AGENTS of the Philippine National Police Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group on Tuesday morning arrested a 50-year-old dismissed policeman wanted for an estafa case since July 2012, officials said yesterday.

PNP-IMEG director Brigadier General Warren F. De Leon identified the suspect as former Police Officer 3 Joebert Balisang, of Bacoor City, Cavite who was fired from the police force for going on AWOL (Absence Without Official Leave) status.

The official said that members of the PNP-IMEG National Capital Region Field Unit under Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Cube arrested the suspects on the strength of a warrant for estafa issued by Judge Rowena Nieves Tan of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 119 on July 23, 2012.

For more than 11 years, the suspect managed to go scot-free, facing a case for violation of Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code otherwise known as estafa with a P44,000 recommended bail, the PNP-IMEG head said.

Members of the National Capital Region Police Office’s Regional Intelligence Division and the Bacoor City Police Station supported the PNP-IMEG in apprehending the suspect who claimed he went on AWOL due to depression and marital problems.

During questioning, the ex-cop said that he failed to pay the capital money he borrowed from a businessman after the business he put up collapsed. In turn, the businessman filed an estafa case against the accused.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said they are stepping up their effort to account for active, retired, and dismissed police personnel who are already the subject of warrants of arrest issued by different courts in line with their commitment to support PNP chief General Benjamin C. Acorda’s massive internal cleansing program.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon