4 Pasig cops axed over reporter's shooting

MANILA, Philippines - A Pasig City police official and four of his men were relieved from their posts yesterday as the investigators from the Eastern Police District (EPD) intensified their probe of the attack on reporter Fernan Angeles.

EPD officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Mario Soriano said the relieved policemen were from the Police Community Precinct where Angeles was beaten up and shot, allegedly by Faisal Sangcopan and two others, last March 11.

Soriano refused to reveal the identities of the relieved policemen.

“All I can say is that I ordered the relief of a police official and four of his men where the shooting of Angeles occurred. They were yanked out from their posts so they could not interfere in the investigation” being conducted by Superintendent Antonio Paulite of the EPD’s district internal affairs division, Soriano said.

He said if Paulite fails to establish the guilt of the five policemen, they would be returned to their former posts.

Angeles remains confined at the Pasig City General Hospital yesterday as his wife, Gemma, met with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo to ask his help.

Earlier, Angeles accused the anti-drug units of the EPD and the Pasig City police of conspiring with Sangcopan in the illegal drug trade in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, a charge Soriano vehemently denied.