Cop caught playing cell phone game at work relieved

MANILA, Philippines — The Laguna policeman who was caught on video playing a game on his cell phone instead of attending to a complaint  of a girl has been relieved from his post.
The Philippine National Police pointed out that the policeman in question was not the one handling the case being brought by the girl, and was only in the barangay hall to charge his cell phone.

Supt. Reynaldo Maclang, Sta. Rosa police chief, clarified that the complaint was deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the barangay which the complainant and respondent belonged to.

“The case is for barangay level and the policeman inside the barangay hall has no jurisdiction over that case, unless otherwise it will be turned over formally to the police station,” said Supt. Reynaldo Maclang.

Early this week, a video of a girl reporting an incident to a police station in Sta. Rosa, Laguna went viral after the policeman on duty was shown busy playing games on his cell phone.

The girl reportedly went to the Balibago barangay hall after being victimized by thieves employing the “kuyog-bintang-nakaw” modus.

The four-minute video showed the policeman at the desk busy using his phone, as if not paying attention to the complainant.

An initial investigation of the incident last November 2 at 2:30 p.m. showed that the complainant was having a discussion with the barangay officials and not with the policeman.

The policeman in question was identified as PO1 Mark Ferdinand Dela Cruz Casibang, who has been relieved from his post.

Casibang was inside the barangay hall and had asked to recharge his phone. It was during this time that a certain Sedfrey Ivan Vallejo Gabayan, the uploader of the video, was having an altercation with the complainant in the presence of a barangay investigator.

The parties were waiting for a formal investigation to start to be conducted by barangay authorities.

Maclang said Casibang has been relieved from his post, and has been placed under his custody, pending an investigation of his actions at the barangay hall.  SFM