Consemino’s wife: My husband is a good man

MANILA, Philippines - The last time his family saw police Superintendent Alfredo Consemino was on Saturday morning, when he accompanied the youngest of his five children to the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).

Christiann Consemino, 18, will enter the PNPA this coming school year, following in the footsteps of his father whom he idolized.

Consemino, a member of PNPA Class 1986, was among 13 men killed in an alleged shootout at a checkpoint in Atimonan, Quezon last Sunday.

His wife Susan described her husband as a good family man and a no-nonsense police officer.

“He single-handedly raised our family. He was a good provider and an all-around worker in the house. His specialty was cooking,” Susan said in an interview. “He was a perfect husband. I had no complaints about him.”

She said that early in their marriage, her husband did not allow her to get a job and instead asked her to concentrate on raising their five children, two of whom have finished college.

Since his graduation from the PNPA in 1986, Consemino would bring along his family wherever he was assigned, mostly in Laguna, according to his wife.

He became the police chief of the municipalities of Alaminos, Liliw, Victoria and Siniloan, and the cities of Sta. Rosa and San Pablo.

He later became chief of the Headquarters Support Service (HSS) of the Police Regional Office 4-B (PRO4-B), leading to his promotion to the rank of senior superintendent.

Consemino was a bemedalled police officer, earning 73 awards and recognitions, including the Junior Officer of the Year of the Laguna police and the Medalya ng Kagalingan for leading the team that rescued TV personality Cory Quirino in Quezon in 1995.

Set to retire next year

Susan said she and her husband decided to settle down at their residence in Laguna when their eldest child was in high school.

Susan said Consemino, who was set to retire from the police service next year, and Vic Siman, who was also killed in the alleged shootout, were co-owners of a security agency which maintained an office in Calamba City.

Siman was tagged as the godfather of small town lottery (STL) bookies in Laguna, but Susan said he never mentioned to her his supposed involvement in illegal gambling.

“He was a tight-lipped person. I would only learn about his supposed exploits from the media. He did not mention to me anything about the STL bookies,” she said.

With her husband’s death, Susan said she is at a loss on how to support the college education of their three children.

But Consemino’s classmate, Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, former Laguna police director, said their class vowed to support the family of the fallen police official.