PNP-IAS chief faces sexual harassment case

MANILA, Philippines — An employee of the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service has filed a complaint for sexual harassment against PNP-IAS chief Alfegar Triambulo before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In a complaint-affidavit filed on Sept. 5, Genevieve Lipura asked the ombudsman to probe Triambulo for allegedly violating Republic Act 7877 or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act and RA 11313, otherwise known as the Safe Spaces Act.

Lipura said she has been working with the IAS for almost 20 years, starting as Planning Officer 1 with salary grade 11 until she was promoted as Human Resource Management Officer (HRMO) with salary grade 18 in 2010.

Lipura said since Triambulo assumed the IAS post in 2016, she had been transferred to different offices with job descriptions not related to being an HRMO.

She cited an instance when she was demoted to computer operator with salary grade 9, prompting her to personally talk to Triambulo in a restaurant in Quezon City.

Lipura recounted that during the meeting, Triambulo told her that whenever he had a girlfriend, he was careful not to get her pregnant. Lipura claimed Triambulo instructed his driver to go home and suggested that they go somewhere else.

While Triambulo was driving her to the PNP headquarters at Camp Crame, the IAS chief still allegedly kept on asking her to come with him, even saying that she could just take a bath afterward.

Lipura said she stood her ground despite Triambulo’s persistence, but before she disembarked from the car, he allegedly asked for a kiss, which she refused, saying she has a husband and a child.

Triambulo, who was appointed IAS chief by then president Rodrigo Duterte in November 2016, denied the allegation against him.

“There was no attempted sexual harassment. That’s her implied perception,” he said.

He said it was Lipura who ordered liquor during their meeting.

The IAS is in charge of investigating police personnel facing administrative cases. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva