QCPD: Decision on Abong’s bail petition to be released Nov. 29 or 30

MANILA, Philippines — The resolution on Lieutenant Colonel Mark Julio Abong’s bail petition will be released within the day or tomorrow, according to Quezon City Police District (QCPD) chief Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan.

Maranan said the remaining cases against Abong are all bailable.

“Sa ngayon, si Lt. Col. Abong ay temporarily detained sa CIDU [Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit] detention center. Bailable ang mga na-i-file nating kaso sa kanya,” the QCPD chief said.

(Right now, Abong is temporarily detained in the CIDU detention center. All of the cases filed against him are bailable.)

“Hindi pa lumalabas as of this time […] Anytime from today, tomorrow [ilalalabas yung resolution],” he added.

(Right now, it is not yet out. But anytime today or tomorrow, the resolution will be released.)

Earlier, Abong was slapped with complaints of illegal discharge of firearms and alarm and scandal, violating the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act in relation to the Omnibus Election code, as well as physical injury and slander by deed.

This was after the police officer assaulted a server at a bar in Quezon City and harassed one of the customers outside the establishment by firing his gun twice last November 26.

However, Maranan said the bar server and manager dropped their physical injury and slander by deed complaints against Abong after settling their conflict on Monday.

If Abong’s bail petition in relation to his remaining cases will be granted, the QCPD chief said the Legal Service has yet to decide whether to allow him to return to work or not.

Aside from the QC bar shooting incident, Abong was also involved in a hit-and-run case near Anonas Street in August 2022, where he was charged with the death of Joel Larosa and the injury of the tricycle driver’s passenger. The victim’s family lodged complaints against him for allegedly trying to whitewash the case.

Administrative complaints were likewise filed against him, and the Quezon City People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) found him guilty “for the grave offenses of misconduct, grave neglect of duty, and conduct unbecoming of a police officer with aggravating circumstances of employment of fraudulent means to conceal an offense.”

In line with this, the PLEB issued a ruling removing Abong from the service for his alleged involvement in a cover-up of a hit-and-run incident that killed a tricycle driver in August last year.

However, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said the dismissal order against Abong was not implemented due to a pending appeal.

QC-PLEB executive officer and lawyer Rafael Calinisan said in an earlier interview that although the police officer filed an appeal and even with its presence, the decision of the board is still “final and executory” as stated in the Republic Act (RA) 6975 or the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Act of 1990; RA 8551 Philippine National Police Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998; and National Police Commission Circulars 2016-002, and 2019-005.

In response, the PNP said that only three bodies have the summary dismissal power — the chief PNP, the regional director, and the National Police Commission director.

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