CA orders reinstatement of 3 cops in boat purchase mess

ILOILO CITY — The Court of Appeals (CA) has ordered the reinstatement of three police officers, including a former Iloilo provincial police director, who were dismissed and barred from government service due to alleged irregularities in the purchase of patrol boats worth P4.5 million in 2009.

In a 17-page decision promulgated on Jan. 30, the CA’s 13th Division reversed the June 2, 2015 resolution and March 26, 2016 order of the Ombudsman which found Senior Supt. Cornelio Salinas, Senior Supt. Michel Filart and Supt. Nepomuceno Corpus Jr., among others, guilty of grave misconduct.

Salinas had served as Iloilo police director. In its decision granting the officers’ petition for review, the appeals court said the negotiated procurement for the purchase of the patrol boats was justified in light of calamities at that time and the need for immediate action. —Nestor P. Burgos Jr.