Entire police unit of Cagayan town axed

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan — The entire police force of one of this province’s coastal towns was relieved the other day due to what the regional police command described as the "alarming" surge in criminality there.

Chief Superintendent Jefferson Soriano, Cagayan Valley police director, said the relief of the 19-member police force of Buguey town, including the police chief, came amid "political tension" in the municipality and the mostly unsolved crimes there.

Soriano said the "escape" of Buguey Mayor Licerio Antiporda Jr. and his son, Vice Mayor Lloyd Antiporda, who have pending arrest warrants issued by a Manila regional trial court for a murder case, also precipitated the move.

"This is the first in the history of the regional police that an entire municipal police force was relieved," Soriano said.

Superintendent Feliciano Caranguian, personnel and human resource development officer of the regional police, said the relieved Buguey policemen, led by the municipal police chief, Inspector Dominador Ursulum, will be temporarily assigned at the regional police command here.

"They will be required to undergo numerous training (phases) to enhance their capabilities and effectiveness as police officers," he said.

Members of the Regional Mobile Group (RMG), led by Chief Inspector Romeo Mangwag, will replace the relieved law enforcers.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights here is investigating alleged human rights abuses committed by RMG members whom the regional police command dispatched last July 7 to serve the arrest warrants on the Antipordas.

The investigation came after the Buguey municipal council and the town’s peace and order council condemned the "excessive force" employed by the RMG team in serving the arrest warrants.

"Abruptly and without warning, (the arresting policemen) entered the municipal building in a manner that created so much fear and traumatic experience to municipal officials and employees as well as other people who were at the premises at the time," part of the municipal council’s four-page resolution stated.

The Antipordas are facing charges of double murder in connection with the killing of lawyer Franklin Tamargo and his daughter, Franciel Gail, in Manila last year. 

The Antipordas have denied the accusations. 

The two went into hiding after the Manila RTC issued their arrest warrants last June. Another son, Roderick, is now the acting Buguey mayor.