‘Doce Pares’ gang members dismissed from police service

Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol ordered yesterday the dismissal of PO2 Joel Tapec, the leader of the so-called "Doce Pares" gang and three of its members for robbing a candy factory executive in Pasig City last August.

Ordered dismissed along with Tapec were PO1 Candido Vallejo, Roel Palana and Roger Villarente, who was last assigned at the District Mobile Force (DMF) of the Eastern Police District (EPD).

Querol approved the recommendation of EPD director Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela, who initiated the summary dismissal proceedings against the four erring policemen.

"The case of Tapec and his companions should serve as a warning to our erring policemen. They should shape up or be kicked out from the police service," said Querol.

Records showed that the victim, Fernando Siy, a vice president at a candy factory, was robbed by the gang right after he parked his car in front of their office in Barangay Ugong. After taking the P300,000 payroll money, the suspects also shot Siy in the body.

Villarente, Palana and Vallejo were arrested by combined elements of the EPD, Cainta police and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Rizal (CIDG-Rizal) for their involvement in the killing of one-year-old Erica Charlene Guevarra during a robbery in Cainta town last Sept. 14.

Tapec, who led the Cainta robbery, escaped and has gone into hiding.

Tapec and his companions are facing robbery with homicide charges before the Cainta municipal court.

Villarente and Palana are now detained at the Cainta jail while Vallejo was placed under the custody of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) in Camp Crame for his alleged involvement in a kidnap case.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., intelligence chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said Tapec and company failed to present their side during the hearing of the Siy and Guevarra cases and four other robbery cases in eastern Metro Manila.

Rojas said the EPD forwarded their dismissal recommendation after 45 days of hearing the case. "Tapec will be denied all benefits due him," Rojas said.

All other summary dismissal proceedings against Tapec and his companions will push through.

"If he managed to appeal the Siy case, we can pin him down in the other administrative cases he’s facing," said Rojas, noting that this effort is separate from the criminal charges the "Doce Pares" gangmen are facing.

The EPD is also conducting a lifestyle check on Tapec to seize his assets, including a three-story residential building, which he allegedly constructed through his shares in the robberies staged by his gang.

Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Cainta police chief, has offered a P50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.