SCORES of rogue active and dismissed Philippine National Police personnel ordered arrested by the court for various criminal offenses have been hauled to jail by agents of the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group this month amid its stepped-up effort to account for misfits and scalawags in uniform, the Journal Group learned yesterday.

On orders of PNP chief, General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr., the PNP-IMEG headed by Brigadier Gen. Warren F. De Leon has intensified its operation versus rogues in police uniform by making sure that those who are already the subject of existing warrants of arrest will be put to jail to answer for their crimes.

This month, PNP-IMEG operatives have accounted for at least five police misfits.

Last May 11, IMEG operatives arrested a drug-dealing Bicol policeman during an anti-narcotics operation in Guinobatan, Albay.

The suspect identified as Patrolman Joshua Resentes, assigned at the Regional Headquarters Support Unit of the Police Regional Office 5 yielded five heat-sealed plastic packets containing shabu during the buy-bust operation in Purok 1, Barangay San Rafael in Guinobatan municipality around 2 p.m. last May 11, said Brig. Gen. De Leon.

The official said that they targeted the accused policeman after he was tagged by a drug dealer arrested by members of the Oas Municipal Police Station in the same province as the alleged source of the drugs recovered from him.

The official said that in coordination with the PRO5 headed by Brig. Gen. Westrimundo Obinque, his men placed the suspect who was also reported to be engaged in the use and sale of prohibited drugs under strict monitoring and surveillance.

Members of the Guinobatan MPS, the PNP-IMEG, the Oas MPS, the PRO5 Regional Mobile Force Battalion, the Albay Provincial Mobile Force Company and the Albay Regional Intelligence Unit 5 were involved in the sting.

An undercover officer from the Albay Provincial Intelligence Unit posed as the buyer of the drug from the accused who arrived in the area and later handed the shabu to the agent after a short talk in exchange for P16,000.

The lawmen immediately surrounded the suspect after the drug deal was consummated and arrested him. Recovered from the possession of Pat. Resentes were five plastic sachets containing the so-called ‘poor man’s cocaine,’ the buy-bust money topped by a marked P1,000 bill and a PNP-issued Zigana PX-9mm semi-automatic pistol with three magazines containing 33 live ammunition.

The suspect was immediately locked-up at the Guinobatan police jail shortly after his arrest. He is now facing-non bailable criminal charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The PNP-IMEG has recommended to the PRO5 leadership the filing of administrative charges for grave misconduct against the suspect which will lead to his dismissal from the police service.

The criminal charges filed against the accused policeman carries the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of as much as P10 million upon conviction by the court.

Last May 9, IMEG agents arrested a sacked operative of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group for driving a recovered evidence vehicle inside the PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame.

Brig. Gen. De Leon identified the suspect as Police Staff Sergeant Clifton Barut de Leon, now assigned with the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit of the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management.

The accused was relieved from the PNP-DEG and assigned to the DPRM-PHAU in connection with the ongoing thorough investigation into the controversial 990 kilo shabu haul of the unit which was marred by massive pilferage in Sta. Cruz, Manila in October last year.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said that suspect was driving a golden brown Honda car with plate no. AEA 9278 when flagged down at Camp Crame’s Gate 1 along EDSA 3:49 p.m. last May 9 by officers of the IMEG Counter-Intelligence Division led by Lieutenant Colonel Leo M. Canuel.

The IMEG officers were backed up by operatives from the PNP Headquarters Support Service’s Camp Security Enforcement Unit and Intelligence and Investigation Division during the operation to arrest the active policeman.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said he ordered the operation to identify and arrest the suspect following a text message sent to the PNP-IMEG hotline regarding the illegal use of SSgt. De Leon of a recovered evidence vehicle.

During a search of the vehicle, the official said that officers discovered that the car was sporting a counterfeit PNP-HSS Decal or sticker which allows the bearer entry to the PNP national headquarters and other police and military camps.

Also recovered inside the vehicle were 81 pieces of fake P1,000 bills which are being used as ‘boodle money’ in the conduct of buy-bust operations and other personal belongings of the accused as well as his PNP identification cards and a Certificate of Appearance from the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 178.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said that the suspect was also stripped of his weapon: a Glock 17 USA pistol with a magazine containing 15 live ammunition.

The official said that also found inside the evidence vehicle were an Official Receipt form Toyota Philippines under the name of one Nicolai Reyes, P89,000 in P1,000 denominations and a ‘balisong.’

The accused was taken to the PNP-IMEG headquarters for further investigation and filing of criminal and administrative charges, said the official.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said they are coordinating with the PNP-DEG under Brig. Gen. Faro Antonio O. Olaguera their investigation into the background of the recovered vehicle.

The arrest of the suspect came amid a reminder from the PNP leadership that there is a very strict PNP policy against the use of recovered motor vehicles and motorcycles which is an offense punishable by dismissal from the force.

Last May 24, a dismissed policeman wanted for a string of criminal charges surrendered to IMEG and Gapan City policemen after feeling the heat of an ongoing operation to get him.

Ex-Police Staff Sergeant Percival Ladores was dismissed from the police force for his involvement in separate cases of robbery, perjury and arbitrary detention, said the official.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said that the 36-year old ex-cop residing in Barangay Hermogenes Concepcion in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija is now being held at the Gapan City police jail.

A record check showed that the accused is the subject of the following warrants of arrest: a warrant for ‘planting’ of evidence under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 with no bail recommended by Judge Elenita Evangelista-Casipit of the Gapan City Regional Trial Court Branch 36 on May 18, 2023;

A warrant of arrest for robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons issued by the same court on the same year with a P100,000 recommended bail; a warrant of arrest for perjury issued by Judge Norma Gonzales-Ramos of the Gapan City Third Judicial Region on May 17, 2023 with a recommended bail of P18,000; and a second warrant of arrest for arbitrary detention under Article 124 of the Revised Penal Code issued by Judge Gonzales-Ramos on May 17, 2023 with an P18,000 recommended bail.

Two other policemen arrested by the IMEG this month were Patrolman Edgar Lagaza Jr., a member of the Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office and Pat. Gabriel Fillone of the Police Regional Office 5’s Regional Mobile Force Battalion, said the official.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said that Pat. Lazaga was arrested inside the Clark International Airport in Mabalacat City in Pampanga on the strength of a warrant of arrest for qualified theft and four counts of violation of Section 32 of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013.

Members of the IMEG Luzon Field Unit, backed up by officers from the IMEG Counter-Intelligence Division, the Regional Intelligence Unit 3 and the Mabalacat Municipal Police Station arrested the active policeman who was ordered to pay a total of P140,000 in bail for his temporary liberty.

Judge Leo Cecilio Bautista of the San Jose City Regional Trial Court Branch 38 issued the warrants of arrest against the policeman who was charged following a complaint from Lieutenant Colonel Marlon Cudal, a former San Jose City Police Station chief.

Lt. Col. Cudal said that the accused carted away four firearms turned over to him for safekeeping by the guns’ registered owners as a result of the PNP’s Oplan: Katok when he was still the Supply Police Non-Commissioned Officer of the police station. The theft of the firearms was discovered on February 23, 2022.

The suspect was temporarily detained at the Mabalacat City Police Station for documentation prior to his presentation to the court.

The 2nd suspect identified as Pat. Fillone, a 30-year old resident of Balud, Masbate was arrested in an entrapment operation inside an M Lhullier Pawnshop in Daraga, Albay.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said that members of the IMEG Luzon Field Unit under Lt. Col. Gerald Dee and the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit 5, in coordination with the Daraga Municipal Police Station and the PRO5 RMFB placed the accused under arrest after he received the P250,000 cash he loaned from the Public Safety Savings and Loan Association, Inc. or PSSLAI using a fake PNP Identification Card past 5 p.m. last Wednesday.

Recovered from the possession of the suspect were the P250,000 cash, an M. Lhuillier withdrawal slip, a fake Professional Regulations Commission ID, a mobile phone and his issued M-16 Galil automatic rifle with a loaded magazine and bandolier.

The accused is now facing criminal charges for swindling/etafa in relation to RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2021 and falsification of public documents.

Brig. Gen. De Leon said that prior to the entrapment operation, a colleague of the suspect and a PSSLAI agent in Legazpi City in Albay sought the help of the IMEG in arresting the accused.

It turned out that the suspect applied for PSSLAI loan using the name of his colleague without the knowledge and consent of the latter and by presenting a fake ID.

After the loan was approved, Pat. Fillone claimed the money at the M.Lhuillier Financial Services not knowing that undercover officers were already posted in the area.

The accused was placed under the custody of the Daraga MPS.