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BY RUBY SILUBRICO
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ILOILO City – Police officers in Iloilo province plan to financially sustain Chief Inspector Charlie Sustento and three other colleagues as they challenge the dismissal order the Office of the Ombudsman issued against them.
Their director, Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, rallied the men and women of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) to support the “Isang Libo para kay Sustento” fundraising campaign.
Sustento, police chief of Ajuy town and head of the IPPO’s Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit; Police Officer 3 Ramon Baylon Jr.; Police Officer 2 Joebert Detorio; and Police Officer 1 John Dimzon were ordered dismissed.
The Ombudsman found them guilty of grave misconduct, conduct unbecoming of police officers, gross incompetence, abuse of authority, and violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Sustento received the dismissal order on Aug. 24 and vowed to challenge it. He described the decision as “really biased and too harsh.”
Under “Isang Libo para kay Sustento,” each IPPO officer will donate P1,000 to financially support the beleaguered officers as they seek effective legal counsel, Tayaba said.
“We have to help our policemen who were working hard to maintain peace and order in our province,” Tayaba stressed.
Richard Samontosa and Janice Braga filed the complaints when Sustento was still chief of the Dumangas police station in 2014.
Samontosa alleged that Baylon, Dimzon and Detorio invited him to the Dumangas police station around 8 p.m. on Nov. 24, 2014 in connection with an alleged motorcycle theft.
When he refused, Sustento came over and shouted at him, grabbed his shirt and pulled him from the outside of his locked gate, Samontosa claimed.
Detorio and a civilian also repeatedly hit his head while Sustento took Detorio’s firearm, and cocked and pointed it to his head, Samontosa added.
The accused officers denied threatening, harassing or hurting Samontosa and Braga.
Questioning people suspected of wrongdoing was “in line with [the officers’] duties and responsibilities,” stressed Tayaba.
“Any concerned individuals who wish to help our policemen can send help to our office,” said the IPPO director.
The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) will help provide its troubled officers competent legal counsel “as a matter of procedure,” according to Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, regional police director.
What the police officers were accused of doing, they allegedly did while performing their official duties, Binag pointed out, adding that the PRO-6 provides the same help to other officers in a similar situation.
“The involved police officers are actually dedicated and effective performers of PRO-6,” the regional police unit said in a statement issued earlier. “Their accomplishments contributed a lot in achieving the mission of the Philippine National Police.”
The Ombudsman said 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 evidence the complainants presented, and dismissed the police officers’ defense that was mainly denial.
“Denial is an intrinsically weak defense which must be buttressed with strong evidence of non-culpability to merit credibility,” but the respondents failed to do this, the Ombudsman said.
Aside from dismissal from service, the four officers were also meted with the accessory penalties of cancellation of civil service eligibility and forfeiture of retirement benefits./PN
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