Two former police officers said that their superiors and colleagues allegedly framed them during President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.
During the House Committee on Public Order and Safety briefing earlier this week, former Police Officer 1 Marco Almario of Zambales Provincial Police Office and Patrolman Sonny Reyes of Quezon City Police District Station 11 were dismissed from their posts due to fabricated pieces of evidence.
Almario claimed that the chief of police at the Masinloc Police Station orchestrated the fabricated drug charges against him.
“Victim po ako. Inaresto po niya [chief of police] ako sa station namin then forcibly pinunta niya ako sa prison cell Tinaniman po niya ako ng illegal drugs saka baril,” Almario said of his arrest in October 2016.
“I filed a memorandum of appeal [on my dismissal]… Dismissed na po yung criminal cases,” he added.
Meanwhile, Reyes was arrested in 2017 after seeking police help to apprehend a neighbor who was impersonating an officer, adding that the neighbor planted drugs and a gun on him.
“May nagpapanggap na pulis sa lamay ng kapitbahay namin. Tiningnan ko po tinanong ko kung pulis ba talaga yun. Nagpatawag ako ng assistance na police. Dumating yung dalawa at tinurnover ko sa kanila,” Reyes said.
“Sinabi na sumama ako sa presinto para magsampa ng kaso. Pero pag dating namin sa presinto sa Police Station 11 ng Quezon City kami na po ang binaliktad. Napag alaman namin na yung taong yun asset po ng Police Station 11. Ang masakit po nga po, pati po yung mga anak ko, dinamay po. Apat kami na kinulong,” Reyes added.
He said all the criminal cases they filed against him were dismissed and later acquitted. The former police officer revealed that he personally covered all the legal costs of fighting the cases against him. His children were also accused of robbery and holdup.
But Reyes said it was the administrative charges that led to his dismissal.
Two other dismissed officers, though not charged with illegal drug offenses, sought assistance after bearing the costs of defending themselves in their cases.
House panel chairperson, Santa Rosa Representative Dan Fernandez, urged the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS) to investigate similar cases.
“May mga sitwasyon talaga na nakakaawa yung mga pulis na, for example, sabihin natin na hindi sila talaga involved. Wala silang perang pang tanggol sa sarili nila. Naapektuhan siya at ang pamilya niya, career, reputasyon, dignidad niya. Nakakalungkot,” he said.
Misamis Oriental 2nd District Representative Yevgeny Emano proposed that the PNP Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS) be funded independently of the PNP.
He also recommended that the body’s findings should not require the approval of the PNP chief. (TCSP)
