Slain officer’s ‘diagram’ rocks PNP

DEAD MAN’S TALECiting this “diagram” obtained from the slain Chief Insp. Elmer Santiago as basis, the Philippine National Police relieved several officers of their posts and ordered an investigation into their alleged links to drug and cybersex syndicates. PHOTO FROM CAMP CRAME

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday ordered the relief of at least 25 policemen, among them six senior officials, whose names appeared in a “diagram” allegedly linking them to cybersex and drug syndicates and prepared by a Bataan-based officer before he was shot dead in  Mandaluyong City last week.

The diagram, a copy of which was furnished the Inquirer by a source in Camp Crame, was said to have been prepared by Chief Insp. Elmer Santiago before the April 16 ambush.

Santiago, a former intelligence officer on “floating status” at the Central Luzon Police-Regional Personnel Holding and Administrative Unit, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding assailants while driving a Toyota Altis on Talumpong Street in Barangay Malamig. His wife Agnes, who was in the passenger seat, sustained injuries but survived the attack.

Days later, a Facebook page of a group calling itself the Anti-Drugs Advocate Laban ng Pamilyang Pilipino mentioned the existence of the “link diagram.”

In a statement, the Pasig City-based group said the diagram prepared by Santiago was supposed to be brought to PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima in a meeting to be arranged with the help of one of Santiago’s classmates in the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).

But instead of handing the letter to Purisima, “his classmate gave the intelligence report to police officers included in the list,” the group alleged.

PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima

Purisima on Thursday also ordered an investigation into allegations that ranking police officers, among them Santiago’s classmates from PNPA Class 1996, were behind the killing.

“The PNP chief has already directed the concerned units to take appropriate actions regarding the matter,” Senior Supt. Wilben Mayor, Purisima’s spokesperson, told reporters. “This is a sensitive issue.”

He said the PNP was looking into all the possible motives behind Santiago’s killing, including the possibility that he was silenced by colleagues being linked to organized crime. “We would really like to get to the bottom of this. We will ensure that the investigation will be fair and impartial,” he added.

Director Carmelo Valmoria, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, earlier ordered the administrative

relief of Supt. Robin King Sarmiento, the deputy chief of the Parañaque City police office.

Sarmiento, one of Santiago’s classmates in the PNPA, was among the police officials identified in the diagram.

“This does not mean 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 noncommissioned 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 in the (diagram),” Petrasanta said 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.”

Mayor said the PNP respects the decision of Santiago’s family to seek the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in hunting down those behind the murder.

“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.”

The diagram also indicated that “Chinese nationals” and “Muslim drug dealers” already doing time in the New Bilibid Prison were part of the drug network.

“This is an eye-opener, although we have been hearing such reports before. We will check this,” Bureau of Corrections Director Franklin Bucayu said Thursday. With a report from Niña Calleja