ILOILO City – Criminal and administrative raps may be filed against nine team leaders of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) who led the deadly raids in Tapaz, Capiz and Calinog, Iloilo on Dec. 30, 2020.
The Police Regional Office 6’s (PRO-6) Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS) found probable cause to charge the cops belonging to the CIDG Region 4-A (Calabarzon) and CIDG National Capital Region (NCR).
RIAS is an autonomous unit within the Philippine National Police (PNP) mandated to administer investigation of police misconduct. Last week, it finished probing the synchronized police and military operations which resulted in the death of 13 alleged communist rebels and arrest of 17 others.
The investigation revolved around alleged violations of the PNP’s standard operating procedure in serving search warrants to respondents.
Police Colonel Roger James Brillantes, RIAS chief, said they already sent complaint letters to the CIDG personnel – two of whom have ranks of Police Lieutenant Colonel, three were police majors, three were police lieutenants, and another was a Police Captain.
They were given five days to submit their counter-affidavits, Brillantes said.
He also clarified that CIDG only tapped some PRO-6 personnel and Philippine Army soldiers for augmentation.
Earlier, Police Lieutenant Colonel Gervacio Balmaceda, chief of CIDG Region 6, insisted the coordinated operations were conducted after a thorough intelligence investigation, involving 28 search warrants “based on information from civilians about the presence of personalities with high-powered firearms and explosives.
Balmaceda pointed out that Tapaz was a “center of gravity” of the rebel movement in Panay Island where government troops and policemen have died in rebel attacks since the 1970s.
But the families of those killed and several village officials refuted these claims. They said firearms were “planted” and those killed were unarmed and gunned down.
Most of the targets were Tumandok indigenous peoples “red-tagged” by the military for their vocal opposition to militarization in their communities and in recent years the construction of the Jalaur mega dam./PN
