Cop who didn’t see bomb in raid is in trouble
A policeman who swore he did not see explosives in the ancestral house of a Negros Occidental mayor that was raided for guns and bombs is now suffering from harassment and intimidation, the mayor’s lawyer said in a statement.
Rhoem Arbolado, legal counsel of Pulupandan Mayor Margarito Peña, said Senior Police Officer 1 Rosendo Bersal Jr., a member of the province’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, is being reassigned to another unit after he executed an affidavit saying he saw no explosives during the search in the ancestral house of Peña.
Police raided Peña’s house in Barangay (village) Ubay on May 3, seizing several firearms and explosives. All of the firearms are licensed, the mayor said, while the explosives had been planted, according to Arbolado.
Arbolado said Bersal is being harassed so he would recant his statement about not seeing any explosives during the search.
In his affidavit dated May 8, Bersal said he and SPO3 Jayvee Aglipay, also a member of the raiding team, were ordered to sign an affidavit saying that the PNP Special Action Force found two explosives in the guard’s quarters of Peña’s house.
Bersal, in his affidavit, said he was “certain that there were no explosives found in the guards’ quarters because I personally entered said quarters.”
Arbolado said Bersal’s affidavit would be used for any legal action that may be taken against those who took part in the raid.
Peña and Bersal had been at odds in the past with the mayor suspending Bersal several years ago.
