4 cops in torture facility sacked

AT RIGHT is a poster listing the rights of inmates in a detention cell in Biñan City, Laguna province, that was allegedly used as a torture facility by several policemen. It was shut down after a report by the Commission on Human Rights exposed the illegal facility. RICHARD A. REYES

CAMP VICENTE LIM—Four police officers were ordered dismissed from service while the former head of a police intelligence unit in Laguna was demoted by one rank  after they were found guilty of maltreating crime suspects in a clandestine facility in the province.

The decision was the culmination of the administrative charges filed at the National Police Commission (Napolcom) in February against 10 policemen involved in the torture of detainees in Biñan City.

Chief Supt. Jesus Gatchalian, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) regional police director, signed the order dated Aug. 20 and released on Wednesday.

It demoted Arnold Formento from chief inspector to senior inspector, or a rank lower, and dismissed from the service PO2 Mark Julius C. Caezar, PO2 Melmar B. Viray, PO1 Nelson P. Caribo and SPO2 Alexander J. Asis.

Formento, head of the Laguna police intelligence branch 1 district, was found guilty of serious neglect of duty while the four policemen were found guilty of grave misconduct and violation of the antitorture law.

Five other police officers, initially listed as charged, were exonerated for lack of evidence, according to the decision.

They are SPO2 Bernardino C. Artisen, PO3 Freddie P. Ramos, PO3 Renan S. Galang, PO2 Alwin Paulo M. Tibuc and PO2 Mateo F. Cailo.

The investigation started on Feb. 7 after the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) issued a report early this year on the torture of up to 41 detainees, mostly drug trafficking suspects.

The torture took place starting in 2013 in a police “safe house” which turned out to be operated without authority from the provincial and regional police headquarters.

A photo of a so-called “wheel of torture” in the facility, attached to the CHR report, caught the attention of Amnesty International, a London-based rights group.

The wheel, similar to a roulette bearing prizes for game show participants, listed instead the type of torture that detainees would suffer after they spin the wheel.

In a phone interview yesterday, Senior Supt. Florendo Saligao, PNP Calabarzon community relations officer, said the officers found guilty had been given 10 days to appeal the decision to the Napolcom.

“This serves as a warning to other policemen and sends a message to the public that we are fair in handling such cases,” said Saligao.