MANILA, Philippines — Former Police Master Sgt. Hensie Zinampan, the killer cop who figured in the fatal shooting of a 52-year-old woman, is no longer a member of the national police.
This was confirmed by Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, Philippine National Police chief, in a statement sent to reporters Thursday afternoon.
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Eleazar said that the police organization "made sure that the entire summary dismissal proceedings followed the existing procedures and policies in order to prevent technicalities" that the killer cop could take advantage of later on.
"This is the reason why it took almost a month before this case was resolved—and this is actually one of the fastest," he said.
To recall, Zinampan was caught on video pulling the hair of 52-year-old Lilybeth Valdez and shooting her in the neck in front of her family members.
In the wake of the killing, rights groups and government officials called into question Eleazar's internal cleansing program as well as the police leadership's typical "isolated incident" narrative.
"Zinampan is detained now as he faces a murder case. On the side of the PNP, he is no longer considered a policeman because of his dismissal order, which also means that he has been deprived of his salary and other benefits," Eleazar said.
A warning to all PNP personnel
The police chief argued that the closed case proved that the Philippine National Police's disciplinary mechanisms were working.
"This is proof that we don't tolerate wrongdoing in our ranks. Let this incident be a warning to all PNP personnel," he said.
Zinampan's case is not the first of its kind, as former Police Master Sgt. Jonel Nuezca murdered 52-year-old Sonia Gregorio and her 25-year-old son Frank Anthony in Paniqui, Tarlac in December.
Criticisms over the police organization were sparked after the two killings, yet authorities continue to tag them as an isolated incident.
This comes amid a possible probe into the PNP's so-called war on drugs by the International Criminal Court.
Though police figures acknowledge at least 6,000 deaths in official anti-drug operations, the PNP has only surrendered 53 records to the Department of Justice.
Eleazar continues to firmly reject the notion from critics that a culture of violence and impunity is prevalent within the police organization.
Per PNP data, a total of 18,664 were penalized for various offenses since 2016, 5,151 of whom were eventually dismissed from the service.
"We believe that more and more of our police remain true to their sworn duty and ready to serve the people," Eleazar said in response to the killing in an earlier statement.