ON HIS KNEES Eddie Yuson is seen begging police officers to return the P14,000 cash aid he received earlier that day. This image is from a security video clip posted online by his daughter.
Six Caloocan City police officers have been dismissed from the service for mauling and robbing a street vendor of the P14,000 in cash aid (“ayuda”) he received from the government in March.
The recently widowed bottled water seller had wanted to treat his four children to a meal at a fast-food restaurant when the antidrug enforcers attacked him and took his money and belongings, a police investigation showed.
In a statement on Thursday, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said it approved the recommendation of its internal affairs office to dismiss the erring policemen after they were found guilty of grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming a police officer.
The dismissal of Corporals Noel Sison, Rommel Toribio, Ryan Sammy Mateo, Jake Rosima, Mark Christian Cabanilla and Daryl Sablay, all previously stationed at the Caloocan City Police Drug Enforcement Unit, came on the heels of the Philippine National Police boasting of a slight improvement in the country’s ranking in the rule of law index by the World Justice Project.
‘No room for scalawags’
The NCRPO chief, Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, said the dismissal of the police officers proved that there was no room for scalawags in the PNP.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: we will continue to uncover, unmask and crack down [on] the tactics and hidden irregularities of some of our personnel,” he said.
‘Legitimate operation’
“We have dealt severely with those rogue cops who are engaged in drug-related crimes and other malpractices and we will keep doing so with the intent of removing them from this organization,” Estomo said.
Based on the investigation, the complainant Eddie Yuson, 39, said he was about to buy food, standing at the corner of Rizal Avenue and 4th Street, on March 27 when a man who introduced himself as a police officer, along with five companions, came up to him and grabbed his bag.
The policemen hit him on the head and threatened his life, according to Yuson, who reported the incident to the barangay.
In response to the complaint, the policemen denied they took Yuson’s belongings and claimed they were conducting a legitimate operation at that time.
They said Yuson had approached their vehicle, prompting them to question him.Caught on camera
But the incident had been caught on surveillance camera, and Yuson’s daughter posted the clip on Facebook, which soon went viral.
According to Yuson’s daughter, her father had received the cash from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
“Our mother just recently passed away, and it is only our father who is working for us four siblings,” she wrote, saying her father was “traumatized” by what happened.
After the video circulated online, the PNP ordered the relief of the six policemen.
The Internal Affairs Service (IAS) recommended their dismissal in June, describing them as “unfit to become public servants.” “As police officers they should serve and protect the property and lives of the people. But what they did was maul and rob the vendor of his money,” IAS Inspector General Alfegar Triambulo said then.
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