Top officials of the Cebu Provincial Police Office are set to officially commend today PO2 Lea Juarez for her bravery and exemplary conduct in foiling a robbery attempt that ended up in the killing of a cell phone snatcher in Cebu City. The incident caught public attention because the robber was armed with a .45 pistol and tried to shoot the responding law enforcer. A less than proficient and physically bogged down policeman would have perished in the encounter but the lady cop was skilled and possessed of sharp reflexes.
Praise and admiration poured in for PO2 Juarez but her heroism evolved into a legal debate after the Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas announced it will investigate the killing of Liel Alex Cabornay. The issue is whether the policewoman used unnecessary force during the police operations.
If last week’s incident had to be reconstructed, it begins when the day is half-spent. Juarez and another policeman were on board a motorcycle passing by the Cebu Business Park when they witnessed Cabornay trying to wrest an iPhone and wallet from the female victim.
The policewoman immediately responded by giving chase and went through the dangerous operations by the book. From giving a verbal warning followed by identifying herself as a member of the police, to her efforts aimed at disabling the victim when he was about to shoot her, Juarez did all that she could to neutralize the situation. In the end she was forced to use her weapon in an apparent act of self-defense.
PO2 Juarez’ heroic act is a refreshing surprise for the Philippine National Police as the institution continues to grapple with negative stories brought about by questionable transactions entered into by PNP echelon during the past administration.
Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman axed from the service 14 police officials and personnel, four of them generals, for the alleged fraudulent purchase of three used helicopters from former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo. Six police officers were also suspended for six months without pay and are facing graft charges before the Sandiganbayan. Also facing graft charges before the Sandiganbayan were Arroyo and former Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa, among others.
The 143-page joint resolution was approved on June 1, or some three years after the scandal was exposed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson. It had to take the election of a new President and the appointment of a new Ombudsman for the case to be acted upon.
Another scandal that virtually brought down the institution was the so-called “Euro Generals” who went to St. Petersburg supposedly to attend a conference sponsored by the Interpol. The European sojourn was spoiled after retired PNP comptroller, General Eliseo de la Paz was detained by Russian immigration agents for bringing to St. Petersburg more than 120 thousand euros.
When this scandal erupted in late 2008, I recall that Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was livid with rage and called for Senate investigation in aid of legislation. In the course of the hearing, a businessman came forward to claim that he owned one-third of the euro cache found in de la Pazs’ possession. Tyrone Ng Arejola, said to be a rich friend of the PNP comptroller testified that he asked the retired police official to buy a pricey watch worth P2.9 million.
The picture of a police general being sent on an illegal errand by a businessman was humiliating but they had to resort to palusot because the police officials cannot explain where their euros worth P6.9 million came from.
Now more than three years later, the scandal seems to unravel as the Bureau of Internal Commission filed tax evasion charges against the well-connected businessman for failing to pay P184 million in income tax in 2007.
Reports say Ong is the same person who testified in the “euro generals” Senate probe. He is familiar with the police agency’s procurement because he heads Enviroaire Inc., a PNP supplier.
BIR Commissioner Kim Henares said that Ng Ong “did not include in his income tax return for 2007 the P225.71 million he received from the PNP as payment for the spare parts his company supplied for the repair and maintenance of light armored vehicles.”
The businessman reported only gross sales of P27.59 million in 2007, intentionally depriving the government of taxes by under-declaring his company’s income by more than 89 percent, or P189.3 million in income tax, including surcharges and interests.
The filing of the graft charges did not stem from a whistle blower’s testimony but from a paper trail—a routine request by the Commission on Audit to the BIR to certify that the PNP issued two sales invoices to Enviroaire in the amounts of P85.18 million and P140.53 million.
But it is the nerve of the businessman to defraud the government after benefiting from a mega deal with the PNP that leaves me dumbstruck. Either he thinks he is untouchable, or everybody in government has a price.