Año scolds cops caught in drinking session near Camp Crame

MANILA, Philippines — Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año on Wednesday lambasted the two police officers recently caught drinking at an eatery few blocks away from Camp Crame in Quezon City.

The two policemen — SPO1 Franklin Francisco Nariz and PO3 Tristan Bardon Callao, both assigned at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Headquarters — were spotted while on a drinking session inside Korabs Canteen in Barangay Socorro on Monday.

READ: Amid ban, 2 policemen caught drinking in public place

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered uniformed personnel to stay away from drinking in public places, saying that drunk law enforcers tend to be involved in trouble.

“The President himself issued the directive to ban cops from drinking in public and yet these two cops had the gall to disobey the orders of the highest official of the land. Ang lakas naman ng loob ninyo,” Año said in a statement.

READ: Duterte prohibits cops from drinking in public places

Año warned that the actions of the two police officers, who will both face an administrative case, “constitute grave misconduct punishable by dismissal from the service.”

“We’ve been working hard to retain public trust and confidence in the PNP organization but these two invalidate our efforts. Their behavior cannot be tolerated,” he said.

Año, meanwhile, lauded the PNP Counter-Intelligence Task Force that spearheaded the operation against the two police officers.

“We must uphold the honor of the entire police force and weed out bad elements in the police service, including those who give the uniformed service a bad image,” the DILG chief said.

“Law enforcers rely on people’s trust and respect in the conduct of operations. How can you do your jobs if our citizens fear and distrust the police? So it becomes every PNP officer’s duty to represent the organization properly,” he added. /kga