6 Caloocan cops face grave misconduct raps over robbery

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday pressed administrative complaints for grave misconduct against six anti-drug officers in Caloocan who were accused of robbing a vendor of P14,000, despite the victim’s refusal to file criminal charges against the suspects.

PNP chief Dionardo Carlos ordered the Internal Affairs Service to pursue the probe against Corporals Noel Espejo Sison, 33; Rommel Toribio, 29; Ryan Sammy Gomez Mateo, 32; Jake Barcenilla Rosima, 35; Mark Christian Abarca Cabanilla, 31, and Daryl Calija Sablay, 29, all assigned with the drug enforcement unit of the Caloocan police.

“We don’t want this isolated incident to tarnish the reputation of the entire police organization. They will undergo the process of adjudication to ferret out the truth,” Carlos said.

“They were relieved from their posts so a fair investigation can proceed without any undue influence. They are under restrictive custody and disarmed of their service firearms,” he added.

The National Capital Region Police Office has been ordered to conduct an investigation of the incident amid the suspects’ claim that they did not rob the vendor, 39-year-old Eddie Yuson.

In an interview with The STAR last week, Caloocan police chief Col. Samuel Mina said he met with Yuson’s family.

Yuson is not interested in filing a case against the suspects, according to Mina.

The suspects allegedly took P14,000 from Yuson when they searched his bag supposedly for drugs on March 27.

Probers said the incident could be another case of hulidap or arrest and shakedown scheme.

Yuson’s daughter uploaded video footage of the incident that lasted for eight hours.

Mina said the suspects denied taking money from Yuson, who they claimed was drunk at the time.