Cebu cop freed masiao suspect?

CEBU — The acting police chief of Minglanilla town may soon find herself in hot water for allegedly ordering the release of a suspected masiao runner last Friday.

Acting Minglanilla police chief Milagros Sollano was accused of releasing Elmer Barayuga supposedly because no bet money was seized from him.

Barayuga was caught at a checkpoint in Barangay Lipata, Minglanilla, last Thursday night, with 59 masiao tally sheets.

But an entry at the police blotter in Minglanilla revealed that Barayuga was released at about 9 a.m. last Friday following a verbal order from Sollano and investigator Remegio Elacion.

Desk officer on-duty Bernabe Coyoca said he was surprised with Sollano’s verbal order and referred the matter to Elacion being the investigator.

Coyoca said the equally surprised Elacion told him to follow Sollano’s order.

"(Sollano) believed that the case would be dismissed considering that there was no bet money and only tally sheets were present," Coyoca said.

But a charge for violation of Presidential Decree 1602 or the Illegal Gambling Law can prosper even if no bet money is found since the possession of the tally sheets itself is already considered a crime.

But Sollano strongly denied ordering the release of the suspect, saying this was only made up because some quarters wanted her out as acting police chief.

Sollano, who has been in her position since February, said there are several policemen with axes to grind against her because of her stand against all forms of illegal gambling.

"These are just retaliations of those policemen complaining about the loss of their income from protecting video carera and masiao operations," she said.

She said she never talked to Barayuga after his arrest and instructed Coyoca to consult Elacion on whether they were pursuing the charges or not last Friday.

She said Coyoca asked Elacion’s opinion but mentioned that there was only one tally sheet confiscated. Elacion immediately recommended the suspect’s release since a single tally sheet is not enough evidence.

Sollano said she is furnishing the provincial police headquarters with the facts of the case.

Meanwhile, SPO4 Ricardo de la Victoria, of the Mambaling police, was ordered relieved by acting Cebu City police chief Josephus Angan for being an alleged masiao coordinator.

De la Victoria was arrested by elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at his residence in Mambaling last Friday with several masiao tally sheets and P2,000 bet money.

De la Victoria denied the accusation and pointed to his wife as the owner of the seized items. — Freeman News Service