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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is reeling from the dismissal of a multi-awarded police officer and three others by the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged grave misconduct.
In a statement, PRO-6 vowed to “maximize its resources in the pursuit of justice” and vouched on the integrity of Chief Inspector Charlie Sustento, police chief of Ajuy, Iloilo and head of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s (IPPO) Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit.
The three others dismissed were Police Officer 3 Ramon Baylon Jr., Police Officer 2 Joebert Detorio and Police Officer 1 John Domzon.
Complainants Richard Samontosa and Janice Braga accused the four policemen of grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of police officers, gross incompetence, abuse of authority, and violation of Republic Act 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees).
The complaints were filed when Sustento was then the chief of police of Dumangas, Iloilo in 2014.
‘HARSH’
In an eight-page decision signed by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Emmanuel Ringpis Jr. dated June 28, 2017, the Ombudsman found Sustento and his three officers guilty and meted them the penalty of dismissal from service, plus accessory penalties of cancellation of civil service eligibility and forfeiture of retirement benefits.
Sustento received the dismissal order on Aug. 24 and vowed to challenge it.
He expressed disappointed over the Ombudsman decision which he described as “really biased and too harsh.”
The police officer recalled he and his men were merely responding to a call for assistance from residents.
“Fabricated testimonies” cost them their jobs, lamented Sustento.
“We’re doing our jobs well but what good is it to be dedicated in our work if this is what we get for stepping on the toes of the influential,” said Sustento.
Sustento wondered at the speed of their case’s resolution and suspected something fishy.
“Ang iban nga cases 10 years before ma-decide-dan. Ang amon ‘ya less than two years na-decide-dan dayun. We firmly believe there is an unseen hand sa amon nga kaso,” he said.
THE COMPLAINT
Complainant Samontosa alleged that on Nov. 24, 2014 around 8p.m., Dumangas policemen Baylon, Detorio and Domzon invited him to the municipal police station in connection with an alleged motorcycle theft.
Because he refused, claimed Samontosa, Sustento came over and shouted at him, grabbed his shirt and pulled him from the outside of his house’s locked gate.
Samontosa added that Detorio and a civilian hit his head repeatedly while Sustento took Detorio’s gun, cocked and pointed it to his head.
Braga corroborated Samontosa’s allegations, adding that Sustento even squeezed the trigger of the firearm pointed at her several times but fortunately the gun did not discharge.
In their joint counter-affidavits, the four policemen denied threatening, harassing or hurting Samontosa and Braga.
The police officers also claimed the charges against them were filed so that the complaints could have leverage over them. The Dumangas police filed a robbery case against Samontosa.
According to the Ombudsman, the issue was whether there was substantial evidence to hold the policemen administratively liable for the alleged offenses.
It gave credence to the statements and evidences the complainants presented and dismissed the police officer’s defense that was mainly denial.
“Denial is an intrinsically weak defense which must be buttressed with strong evidence of non-culpability to merit credibility,” according to the Ombudsman.
Respondents, however, failed to do this, it stressed.
‘DEDICATED, EFFECTIVE’
The PRO-6 vowed to extend legal help to the four policemen.
“The involved police officers are actually dedicated and effective performers of PRO-6,” stated the regional police office in a statement read by spokesperson Superintendent Gilbert Gorero.
While stressing it respected the Ombudsman, the PRO-6 said the police officers’ accomplishments actually “contributed a lot in achieving the mission of the Philippine National Police (PNP).”
Noting that the complaints against the policemen emanated from their official duties when still assigned in Dumangas, PRO-6 assured their “families, relatives and friends that (it) will maximize its resources in the pursuit of justice.”
Just this Aug. 14, no less than the PNP’s Director General Ronald Dela Rosa award Sustento as “Best Junior Police Commission Officer for Operations.” The awarding was in line with the 116th Police Service Anniversary.
Under Sustento, the Ajuy police station topped the 2017 first quarter performance evaluation of the IPPO.
Ajuy police station was hailed as “best in law enforcement operation” against loose firearms from January to March this year.
Just this Aug. 23, Sustento as PDEU chief disclosed that illegal drugs were rampant in Iloilo’s 5th District and that five drug groups were operating in northern Iloilo.
He said these groups’ source of shabu is Mindanao.
From Mindanao, shabu enters Iloilo through seaports and this is then forwarded to distributors in five towns of the 5th District (northern Iloilo) – Sara, San Dionisio, Estancia, Carles, and Balasan, said Sustento.
“All these information were culled from drug pushers we arrested. They told us how their groups operate and where their supplies come from,” said Sustento./PN
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