13 MPD cops axed over ‘hidden cell’

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Police District (MPD) Station 1 commander Superintendent Robert Domingo and 12 members of the station’s drug enforcement unit (DEU) were relieved from their posts yesterday after a “hidden cell” was discovered in the station.

MPD director Chief Superintendent Joel Coronel directed Domingo, DEU chief Senior Inspector Edwin Fuggan and 11 police officers to report to the Regional Police Holding and Accounting Unit at Camp Bagong Diwa while they are under investigation. 

National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Oscar Albayalde visited the station yesterday morning and talked to Domingo.

He thanked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which staged a “surprise visit to the station, “for taking time to inspect the detention cells of our stations so that they’re able to see the real condition of these facilities. We must recognize that this problem is not just in one police station but almost in all our stations regionwide.”

Photo shows inmates crouching in the station’s detention facility. As of yesterday morning, there were 87 men and 15 women being held in the facility meant to accommodate only 40 men and 10 women.

Before Domingo left, he ordered the filing of charges against the 12 detainees who were held in the makeshift cell hidden behind a cabinet.

Albayalde assured that there will be no whitewash in the investigation while Coronel said the move to remove the 12 police officers was standard operating procedure and they will be returned to their posts “if it is proven… that there were no lapses on their part.”

Superintendent Albert Barot, who heads the MPD logistics division, replaced Domingo as officer-in-charge.

CHR-National Capital Region director Gilbert Boiser alleged that the detainees have been held without charges for as long as 10 days in the nearly airless cell and that they were being asked to produce P40,000 to P100,000 for their release.

Their arrests were not logged in the station’s blotter, he added.

Under the law, a person can only be detained for nine hours without charges unless the charge is terrorism – then the police can detain a person for two days.

Duterte vows probe

President Duterte vowed yesterday to dig deeper into the issue. He said he “will call Bato,” referring to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa to ask about the results of the initial investigation.

He issued the statement before leading the welcome ceremonies for Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Malacañang.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos said the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office should inspect police stations.

He also said an oversight committee will look into the DEU members’ past infractions. Prior to resuming the drug war last March, Dela Rosa ordered that all police officers who will be assigned to station DEUs should be vetted.

Audit sought

CHR chairman Chito Gascon said the PNP should conduct a full audit of all police stations nationwide.

“We need to know how deep this goes,” he said, citing the possibility that the secret cell is not an isolated case.

Gascon also rebuked Domingo for defending and “even appear(ing) to be proud of” the existence of the secret cell.

“Maybe he needs to go back to the police academy,” he said in Filipino.

As the CHR does not have prosecutorial powers, Gascon said it will be up to the Department of Justice or the Office of the Ombudsman to file charges against the police officers.

He said they are ready to provide legal assistance to those who were illegally detained should they decide to pursue a case against the police officers.

‘Tokhang shakedowns’

Lawmakers and human rights groups also criticized the government over the secret cell.

Sen. Leila de Lima, detained on drug charges, said this did not come as a complete surprise.

“If you can kill 8,000 human beings (and counting), what prevents you from illegally detaining incommunicado victims of tokhang shakedowns?” she said.

De Lima has accused Duterte of ordering the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects since he assumed office.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former PNP chief, said the actions of the police officers are not at all different from those of kidnap-for-ransom gangs.

“Those responsible must therefore be treated no differently from those criminal syndicates,” he said.

Kabayan party-list Rep. Harry Roque urged the House of Representatives to look into the issue.

“I find it profoundly disturbing that these men and women were illegally detained – because there appears to be no records of their arrest – and subjected to cruel, degrading and inhumane conditions,” he said.

International watchdog Human Rights Watch said the secret cell is proof of how police officers are taking advantage of the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

HRW deputy Asia director Phelim Kine said these recent revelations only strengthen their group’s finding that there is a “damning pattern of unlawful police conduct” in the drug war.

Kine cited the PNP officials’ alleged involvement in the kidnap and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo in October 2016.

Kine said it is high time for the International Criminal Court to heed the call for an independent investigation of the killings in Duterte’s drug war “and the secret jails are part of it.”  – With Christina Mendez, Emmanuel Tupas, Janvic Mateo, Marvin Sy, Jess Diaz, Elizabeth Marcelo