MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, has dismissed from the service the nine police officers involved in the fatal shooting of four Army intelligence agents in Jolo, Sulu province, in June last year.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana said Sinas approved on Friday the recommendation of the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to dismiss Senior Master Sergeant Abdelzhimar Padjiri, Master Sergeant Hannie Baddiri, Staff Sergeants Iskandar Susulan and Erniskar Sappal, Corporal Sulki Andaki and Patrolman Moh Nur Pasani from the Jolo Municipal Police Station. Also ordered dismissed were Staff Sergeant Almudzrin Hadjaruddin and Patrolmen Alkajal Mandangan and Rajiv Putalan from the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) of the Sulu police.
The order may still be appealed with the National Police Commission.
As of Friday, the nine officers remained under restrictive custody at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
The PNP informed the Department of Justice that 10 days after the dismissal is finalized and if there is no arrest warrant issued by the court against them during that period, the officers would be released to their relatives.
No longer officers
“They are no longer police officers. And as such, putting them into police custody is tantamount to violating their right to liberty while the criminal case is pending against them,” Usana said.
He advised the officers not to go into hiding once released, for “they will be in more trouble if they escape. They should just face their cases in court.”
Last September, the PNP IAS filed administrative cases against the nine police officers. It also took the same action against their direct superiors — Col. Michael Bawayan, director of Sulu Provincial Police Office; and Capt. Ariel Corsino, the DEU chief of the Sulu police — for gross neglect of duty.
A third superior included in the complaint, Maj. Walter Annayo, chief of the Jolo Municipal Police Station, was shot dead by a still unidentified assailant in Maguindanao last November.
The National Bureau of Investigation has filed charges for murder and planting of evidence against the nine officers.