MANILA, Philippines ? An operative of the Quezon City Police District Monday filed a complaint against his superior whom he accused of taking his service firearm right after he arrested a suspected "jueteng" cabo (bet collector) on Sunday.

SPO1 Armando Rivera, 42, of the QCPD Station 9, lodged a complaint at the Quezon City Police District's Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit office at Camp Karingal, Sikatuna, Quezon City, against his station commander, Supt. Oscar Palisoc.

Rivera said he apparently earned the ire of Palisoc after he and his two colleagues arrested and filed charges against Orlando Balmes.

In his statement to the QCPD-CIDU, Rivera said he and the two policemen were on routine patrol when they spotted Balmes collecting bets for jueteng, an illegal numbers game, from several persons at the corner of Katipunan and K-mart Streets in Barangay Pinyahan at 7:28 a.m. Sunday.

After investigating and filing charges against the suspect, Rivera said they detained the suspect at the QCPD Station 9 jail.

But moments later, the policeman said he received a radio message from Palisoc directing him and the two other policemen to immediately report to his office.

Disarmed

He added that when he arrived at the station, Palisoc disarmed him of his.45-caliber service weapon and also started yelling threats at him.

"You've already committed so many offenses against me. Something might happen to you. I just don't know what that might be," Palisoc reportedly told him.

"Make sure you did the right thing by arresting him. If not, I'll sue you," the official allegedly told the complainant.

Rivera said he was shocked by Palisoc's reaction and stressed that Balmes' arrest was above board.

Contacted by the Inquirer, Palisoc denied Rivera's claim that he got mad over the arrest of the jueteng bet collector.

Angry

He explained that he was angry because he learned that Rivera and the policemen held Balmes for almost four hours before turning him over to the police station.

"Why did they do that? Maybe they were planning something else," Palisoc said.

He said Rivera, whom he described as a "police scalawag," had wanted to destroy his reputation ever since he took over the helm of the station in January 2007.

In fact, Rivera and his cohorts had been involved in a similar case before, Palisoc claimed.