Ermita cop chief denies he’s about to be fired

Ermita Police Station Commander Superintendent Manolo Martinez yesterday denied reports that he is now on the brink of losing his post following the robbery committed on a Swedish seminarian by suspected members of the Ativan Gang last Thursday.

It was earlier reported that National Capital Region Police Office director Edgar Aglipay was quoted as saying that Martinez could have been relieved, but was instead reprimanded following the robbery on David John Edman, 23.

Edman was first befriended by the suspects in Intramuros, then taken to the SM Manila mall before he was brought to Quiapo where he was drugged and then divested of P8,000 cash and a credit card.

Aglipay was quoted as saying that he gave Martinez a "last warning" and ordered him to solve Edman’s case as soon as possible.

Aglipay was also quoted as saying that by virtue of an agreement among the 37 station commanders of Metro Manila, a station chief would be administratively relieved after three foreigners are robbed in their areas of responsibility. Reports said that Edman was the third foreigner to be robbed in the jurisdiction of Martinez.

"I was not reprimanded. The only instruction I got from the Regional Director (Aglipay) was to double police visibility in the area following the order of Mayor Atienza,"Martinez said.

Martinez added that he personally followed-up on the case of Edman but was later informed that the Swede, of St. Andrews Theological Seminary in E. Rodriguez Street, Quezon City, had left for Germany the day after he filed a complaint with the police.

"But I was told by his boarding housemates that he will be coming back," Martinez said.

Meanwhile, Martinez late yesterday afternoon ordered a police team to raid a suspected lair of the Ativan Gang in Quezon City and arrested three suspects.

Police identified those arrested as Jean Fuentes Bajet, 44, 19 Manunggal St. Cluster 5 Tatalon, Quezon City; Virgilio de Jesus, 45; and Jackylen Bajet, 20; both of the same address. They were arrested at about 3:00 p.m. The suspects, police said, were those who drugged and robbed Edman. – Mike Frialde