25 cops ordered relieved over links to drugs
The “link diagram” that killed Chief Inspector Elmer Santiago obtained from a Philippine National Police source.
The head of the Philippine National Police ordered the relief Thursday of at least 25 policemen, including six senior officers, named in a diagram linking them to the operations of syndicates involved in cybersex and illegal drug trade.
The diagram, a copy of which was furnished the Inquirer by a source at Camp Crame, was supposedly drawn by Chief Insp. Elmer Santiago before he was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Mandaluyong City on April 16.
At the same time, PNP Director General Alan Purisima ordered an investigation into allegations that ranking police officers, among them Santiago’s classmates in PNP Academy Class 1996, were behind the murder.
“The PNP chief has already directed the concerned units to take appropriate actions regarding the matter. This is a sensitive issue,” Senior Supt. Wilben Mayor, Purisima’s spokesman, told reporters.
He said the PNP was looking into all the possible motives behind Santiago’s killing, including the possibility that he was silenced by his colleagues to stop him from spilling the beans on them.
Article continues after this advertisement“We would really like to get to the bottom of this. We will ensure that the investigation will be fair and impartial,” he added.
Article continues after this advertisementDirector Carmelo Valmoria, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, has already issued the administrative order directing the relief of Supt. Robin King Sarmiento, the deputy chief of the Parañaque City police office.
Sarmiento, one of Santiago’s classmates in the police academy, was among the police officials named in the diagram.
“This does not mean that he is guilty. We just want to know the truth and make sure that all police officers will be available during the investigation,” Valmoria said.
Chief Supt. Raul Petrasanta, Central Luzon police director, has also sacked 24 policemen, including 19 police non-commissioned officers, assigned in various municipal police stations in Bataan province.
“I just approved the recommendation of my staff for the administrative relief of all [policemen] listed on the [diagram],” Petrasanta in a text message.
“This is to pave the way for the investigation being conducted by the NCRPO and to make the concerned personnel available for inquiry and investigation,” he said.
Mayor said the PNP respects the decision of Santiago’s family to seek the help of the National Bureau of Investigation in hunting down those behind the killing.
“We welcome the choice of the family being the aggrieved party. We will always support the (NBI) in investigating this case,” he said. “We will not tolerate any wrongdoing of our fellow police officers. We also want to cleanse our ranks.”
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