IN HOT WATER Fifteen policemen assigned to the Quezon City Police District’s Mobile Force Battalion have been disarmed and could be charged criminally and administratively over the escape of 6 Pogo workers. —NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Fifteen policemen of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) have been relieved of their posts after six Chinese Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) workers escaped from a temporary custodial facility in Camp Karingal.
QCPD director Police Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo said on Wednesday that the lawmen could face criminal and administrative charges.
According to the QCPD, the 15 policemen assigned to the District Mobile Force Battalion were also disarmed immediately following an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) for evasion through negligence under Article 224 of the Revised Penal Code.
Montejo ordered their relief after Zhang Yi Xin, Ludong Jin, Song Qicheng, Lu Yinliang, Huang Yong Qiao and Chen Bin were discovered missing during a routine headcount around 9:45 p.m. on Monday.
Rearrested near creek
Members of the QCPD’s Tactical Motorized Unit and CIDU managed to track down and rearrest the six escapees near a creek on Mapagkumbaba corner Fugencio Streets in Barangay Krus na Ligas.The Chinese nationals were among the 342 foreigners arrested by the Bureau of Immigration and QCPD in December for working without proper permits and visas at a building in Barangay Bago Bantay, Quezon City.
They were employed by a licensed Pogo that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation had not yet allowed to operate, Montejo said.