All the members of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (HPG) unit based in Laguna province have been relieved from their posts after several officers were found to be involved in the kidnapping and the killing of a businessman and a car salesman.
HPG director Police Brig. Gen. Rommel Marbil said on Thursday that five of the HPG-Laguna officers who were suspected in the kidnap-slay case had been placed under restrictive custody.
Marbil did not identify the officers pending the result of their own investigation. He also did not say how many in total were relieved on Thursday and whether they had been replaced. He deferred to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to disclose the identities of the suspects after the filing of criminal complaints against them.
According to Police Lt. Col. Ariel Huesca, head of the CIDG-Quezon province, five police officers of HPG-Laguna and at least two civilians were involved in the abduction of businessman Jaime Faramil Jr., 29, and car sales agent Rodrigo Dueña, 33.
Found dead in Quezon
Huesca did not disclose details of the alleged kidnapping.
The two left Naga City, Camarines Sur, on Dec. 26 to buy a Mitsubishi Strada from a certain Irene de Guzman at Barangay Timbao in Biñan, Laguna.Their families last communicated with the victims on Dec. 29, 2021.
Dueña was found dead in Tayabas, Quezon province the following day.
Faramil, who was involved in a “trading business,” remains missing. His family offered a P250,000 reward to anyone who could provide credible information that would lead to his location.
Raid
The businessman’s family learned that withdrawals were made from his bank account at ATMs in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, on Dec. 30, 2021, and in Dasmarinas, Cavite, on the following day totaling P84,000.
The pickup truck used by the victims was found at Barangay Toledo in Silang, Cavite, on Jan. 3.However, according to Faramil’s family, the vehicle, which was under the safekeeping of Silang police for use as evidence, was seized by HPG-Laguna personnel.
On Feb. 4, armed with a search warrant, CIDG-Quezon operatives raided the impounding area and office of HPG-Laguna at Barangay Paciano Rizal in Calamba.
IDs recovered
The raiders recovered the identification cards of Faramil and Dueña and the salesman’s cell phone. But the five police officers who were named in the warrant were not there.
“As of now, the evidence would lead to a fair conclusion that there are some uniformed personnel who have knowledge in the incident,” Huesca said in a television interview.
The CIDG-Quezon is set to file criminal complaints of kidnapping with homicide, kidnapping with serious illegal detention and violation of the anticarnapping law against the five HPG-Laguna officers and their civilian accomplices.
The CIDG, however, did not say when the complaints would be filed and gave no other details of the case.