CEBU CITY –– Two policemen are facing an investigation for allegedly organizing an illegal cockfight in Barangay Lataban, Liloan town, north Cebu on Saturday, Nov. 21.
Brigadier Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Central Visayas police, said he was disappointed that the two police officers were not only linked to illegal activity, but organized it after the Philippine National Police (PNP) ramped up its operation against illegal gambling.
The cockfight organized by the two policemen came when PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas was in Cebu for a thanksgiving activity after he was appointed to the position early this month.
Ferro said the two police officers might have thought they would get away with it because the police were busy with Sinas’ visit.
“I have ordered the superiors of these two policemen to relieve them and take their badges and service firearms while they’re under investigation,” the police general said.
Ferro did not reveal the names of the two police officers since a case has not yet been filed against them.
Members of the Provincial Intelligence Unit arrested 11 persons at the illegal cockfight last Saturday. One of the suspects claimed that the two policemen organized the activity.
Ferro said the two police officers committed a grave offense.
“The investigation will surely follow and the necessary administrative case will be filed against them,” he said.
The two police officers, he added, may also face a criminal case for violating the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
“And for a police officer to be involved in illegal gambling, it’s an offense that you could be dismissed from service,” Ferro said.
During his visit to Cebu City, Sinas said his campaign to cleanse the organization of illegal activities would continue on a grander scale.