PNPA cadets beat up upperclassmen

If you want to know why many policemen beat up or kill innocent civilians without mercy, look at what happened to six new graduates of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).

Jan Paul Magmoyao, Arjay Masangkay Divino, Ylam Lambenecio, Mark Villares, Floyd Traqueña and Arjay Cuasay were bashed in the head with truncheons or pummeled by 34 of their underclassmen right after the graduation ceremonies held on Wednesday at Camp Castañeda in Cavite province.

The PNPA is the police counterpart of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) where new graduates become inspectors (equivalent to a second lieutenant in the military).

“It was a dunking ceremony gone wild,” a PNPA insider told this columnist, referring to the incident.

Dunking is a tradition at the PNPA and PMA, where new graduates are thrown into a swimming pool by lowerclassmen as a farewell gesture.

Of the 34 cadets involved in beating up their superiors, 13 have been identified.

The six victims got separated from their batchmates who were elsewhere on the PNPA grounds.

All those involved would be dismissed from the academy, but the 13 who were identified would be charged in court, according to Philippine Public Safety College president Ricardo de Leon.

The incident was the first at the PNPA, making it an isolated incident, said De Leon.

But from where this columnist sits, the PNPA, unlike its PMA counterpart, doesn’t turn out good men.

Many PNPA graduates end up like their other colleagues from other schools: arrogant and abusive.

Two cadets didn’t join 106 others who made it to graduation day on March 21: one resigned earlier after she got impregnated by an upperclassman while another was exposed after he tried to force an underclass cadet to perform a sex act on him.

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PNPA cadet Rock dela Rosa Jr., son of Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, has been kicked out of the PNPA for failing in seven subjects, according to insiders.

The younger Dela Rosa has been the subject of complaints from fellow cadets for absenteeism.

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The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has summoned a customs official of the Port of Manila for the release on March 11 and 12 of 124 containers suspected to contain highly dutiable goods.

Mel Pascual, chief of the Manila port’s formal entry division, would be asked to explain why he authorized the release of the containers when an alert order was issued against them.

March 11 and 12 were a Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The release was suspicious, according to NBI sources, because the Bureau of Customs does not hold offices on weekends.

The shipments were given an alert (hold) order by the Office of the Commissioner but it was lifted on the dates mentioned.

The NBI has been given the authority to investigate corruption among government officials and employees.