Dismissal proceedings ordered vs cop in Atimonan case

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima has ordered the start of summary dismissal proceedings against a police officer who went absent without official leave (AWOL) after he was linked to the killing of 13 people in an alleged rubout case in Atimonan, Quezon last Jan. 6.

Purisima said yesterday Superintendent Ramon Balauag, who was relieved as chief of the Quezon Provincial Police intelligence branch after the killings, has been AWOL since July 8.

“Balauag is placed on AWOL. His continuous resistance to go back to our custody despite our effort to contact him can be construed as a way of waiving his right and for us to proceed to the next step of initiating the summary dismissal proceeding against him,” said Purisima.

The PNP chief said Balauag had committed another offense in addition to the administrative charges filed against him in connection with the Atimonan case.

Balauag and 21 other policemen were assigned at the Administrative Resource Management Division (ARMD) of the Headquarters Support Service (HSS) in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

All 22 policemen, including eight officials, were reassigned to the HSS under restrictive custody since Jan. 23 to ensure their proper accounting and availability to face further investigation for the Atimonan rubout case.

Purisima said he had directed Internal Affairs Service chief Director Alexander Roldan to speed up investigation into the administrative case against the policemen in the Atimonan incident.

“Roldan assured me that he would speed up the process,” Purisima said.

Purisima placed under restrictive custody the 22 policemen, including Chief Superintendent James Melad, Senior Superintendent Valeriano de Leon, Superintendent Hansel Marantan and other members of the Atimonan police station.

The accused police officers claimed they conducted the police operation in Atimonan following reports of movement of a large cache of firearms. They later claimed one of the 13 slain individuals opened fire at them, triggering a shootout.

The probe conducted by the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) showed that the killings were likely a rubout and not a shootout as claimed by the accused police officers.