Probers see loopholes in CIDG ‘hulidap’ ops

MANILA, Philippines — Probers have seen irregularities in the raid conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who were relieved from their posts on Thursday over allegations of “hulidap” or robbery and extortion of a group of Chinese businessmen in Parañaque City, an official said on Friday.

Brig. Gen. Warren de Leon, Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group director, said IMEG investigators noticed loopholes in the operation of the 12 policemen from the CIDG’s National Capital Region (NCR) field unit.

The IMEG was ordered to investigate the police officers who were involved in the incident on March 13 in Barangay Tambo.

Speaking to reporters, De Leon said among the glaring errors was when the policemen barged into a house where 13 Chinese were playing mahjong without a search warrant.

“Umakyat daw sa bakod kaya walang consent nung may-ari (They climbed over the fence, so there was no consent from the owner),” he said.

De Leon said the situation could have been different if the Chinese had been playing on the street and not in a house.

Investigators also discovered the policemen had no pre-operational plan for the raid.

“Walang pre-ops kaya maraming butas ang operation nito (No pre-ops so the operation had many loopholes),” De Leon said.

Due to the allegations of irregularities involving his men, Col. Hansel Marantan was also relieved as head of the CIDG-NCR.

De Leon said the police officers could be held liable for robbery and kidnapping after they reportedly took at least P3 million in cash and expensive wristwatches as well as demanded more money in exchange for the release of the 13 Chinese.

Tagged in rubout

Marantan was implicated in the 2013 killing of 13 men in an alleged rubout in Atimonan, Quezon.

He and 12 other police officials involved in the rubout were dismissed from the service in 2014 by then PNP chief Alan Purisima.

However, Marantan was reinstated in the PNP in 2017 after his appeal was granted by the National Police Commission.