MANILA, Philippines - A Quezon City court has sentenced two police officers to a minimum of four months and a maximum of one year and eight months in prison for illegally arresting a Manila firefighter and detaining him for three days 12 years ago.
In a seven-page decision released yesterday, Judge Manuel Sta. Cruz of the Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 43 found Inspector Jessie Cayabyab and Police Officer 3 Roland Paz Recoco guilty beyond reasonable doubt of arbitrary detention.
The accused – former members of the defunct Task Force Jericho of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) – appealed the decision and asked for a review. The appeal is pending before Judge Alexander Balut of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 76.
The case stemmed from the complaints of Fire Officer 3 Marcos Roldan, who claimed that the accused – as well as two others, identified only as PO1 Bernal and PO1 Labiaga – arrested him without warrant while he was on duty at the Paco fire station on April 20, 2001.
He said the four policemen told him to go with them as he was identified as the one who stabbed dead a certain Cerillo Cardenas on April 6, 2001. Roldan denied killing Cardenas, saying he was on 24-hour duty at the time. He said the policemen told him they were just inviting him and he went with them, with his supervisor’s permission.
Roldan said he was brought to the office of DILG Task Force Jericho, where he was detained for three and a half days. He said that during the inquest proceedings, he was not given a lawyer.
Cayabyab, in his defense, said Roldan and his wife voluntarily went with them to the DILG office and that Roldan was given free to move in the office.
Recoco, on the other hand, said Roldan was not arrested since he volunteered to go to their office.
Bernal and Labiaga remain at large.