PNP awaits DILG order on dismissal from service of Abong

FILE PHOTO: PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo answers questions from reporters after a media briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City, in this file photo on April 25, 2023. INQUIRER.net /Faith Argosino

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it will immediately implement the dismissal of Lt. Col. Mark Julio Abong once the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) sends them the official copy of its decision concerning his hit-and-run case in 2022.

Aside from this,  Col. Jean Fajardo, PNP spokesperson, said Abong must likewise receive proof of service from the DILG before the police force can issue the dismissal order against him.

“If we receive the official copy of the decision coming from the DILG, including the implementing orders, we will commit, there will be no delay in the issuance of the dismissal order,” Fajardo revealed in a press briefing on Thursday.

In its 10-page decision made public on Wednesday, the DILG denied Abong’s second appeal “for lack of merit” and upheld the Aug. 24 decision and Sept. 22 resolution of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) – Regional Appellate Board (RAB) on his hit-and-run case.

Based on the DILG document, the RAB decision came after it denied Abong’s first plea and affirmed the same ruling made by the Quezon City People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) on the hit-and-run case. The decision was released in March this year.

In August 2022, Abong was involved in a hit-and-run case near Anonas Street, where he was charged with the death of tricycle driver Joel Larosa and the injury of his passenger.

The driver’s family lodged homicide and damage to property complaints against Abong, accusing him and three other police officers of trying to whitewash the case by reportedly using his driver, Ronald Centino, as a scapegoat.

READ: DILG affirms dismissal of cop who fired gun outside Quezon City bar

Reports on cases involving Abong surfaced again online after he was collared by authorities last November 26 for assaulting a bar server and harassing a customer in Quezon City by firing his gun twice.

READ: Cop in QC bar shooting set to post bail — PNP

Police said he is currently under the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) of Quezon City Police District, facing charges of illegal discharge of firearms, alarm and scandal, and violating the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act in relation to the Omnibus Election Code. The complaints against him were filed before the city prosecutor’s office shortly after his arrest.

Regarding this new case, the PNP said that the director of its Legal Service department had already endorsed an administrative case against Abong before the Internal Affairs Service.