Volunteers in trouble for conducting rescue operation

Several members of a civilian volunteer unit that reportedly assists the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group in Camp Crame are now in hot water for allegedly conducting a field operation on Tuesday without any police supervision.

Police Officer 2 Rommel Bautista, case investigator,  said  Rodolfo Advincula, 52, and three members of the Community Force Multipliers for Peace Inc. (CFMPI) who have not been identified, may face charges of usurpation of authority for responding to a reported abduction at  La Loma North Cemetery  in Manila without coordinating with the proper authorities.

Advincula, he said, is also facing charges of illegal possession of firearms for carrying a .45 cal. pistol without a permit-to-carry.

The four were accosted by members of the Special Weapons and Tactics unit manning a checkpoint on 10th Avenue, corner Baltazar Street in Caloocan, around 11 p.m.,  after their field operation.

“The policemen saw that they were wearing what looked like police jackets. When the four passed by the checkpoint, the police saw that Advincula had a  gun,” Bautista  told the Inquirer.

When confronted, Advincula and his companions introduced themselves as members of CFMPI, and  were on their way to Barangay 121 to turn over the case of a 15-year-old minor they said they had rescued from her abductor in Manila a few hours earlier.

Advincula presented a firearm license card but not a permit-to-carry, Bautista said.

“They were taken to the police headquarters soon after,” he added.

“We forgot to coordinate the operation with police because we were in a hurry. We responded as soon as we received information that the girl had been abducted,” Advincula said in their defense.