A veteran Bulacan journalist and a lifetime member of the National Press Club has filed charges of kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and planting of evidence against Bulacan Police Provincial Director Colonel Relly B. Arnedo as principal and four deputies.
Several other policemen and civilians were also charged as accomplices for their roles in a drug buy-bust operation.
In his counter-affidavit with counter-charge released yesterday, Orlando L. Mauricio, editor-publisher of MetroNEWS Bulacan, the oldest Malolos-based English weekly in Bulacan, filed his complaint last Aug. 31, 2023, before Alejandro G. Ramos, senior assistant provincial prosecutor.
Mauricio, a correspondent of Manila Standard and an awardee of the ‘PNP Outstanding Journalist of the Year in 1997’, charged the respondents led by Arnedo for arbitrarily arresting his son, Oliver Paul dela Cruz Mauricio, at about 4:00 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2023 near his residence in Malolos City, without any warrant of arrest.
However, two hours later, the police team returned to the scene with his son already in handcuffs, who was pictured as having been just arrested in a “well-scripted, stage-managed buy-bust operations.”
The newsman, in his formal complaint, named the other respondents:
• PSSg Jose DP Uring, for grave threats, kidnapping, and planting of evidence;
• Lt. Col. Jesus Manalo Jr., chief of provincial intelligence unit; Lt. Col. Laurente A. Acquiot, deputy provincial director for operations, for kidnapping and planting of evidence;
• PSSg Salvador A. Quitaleg, Pat. Aries L. Oronce, P/Cpl. Harvin Jay C. Tolentino, Leolie dela Torre of PDEA, kidnapping and planting of evidence;
• P/Major Nurheda Usman of Bulacan Police Public Information Office, accomplice;
• Mary Joan Lopez Maclang, Barangay Kagawad of Mojon, Malolos; Perlito M. Garcia of DOJ-Malolos Office; Gina Lopez Borlongan of Saksi Ngayon tabloid, all accomplices in the planting of evidence;
• Lt. Col. Gina Mananquil Camposano, forensic chemist; and, Lt. Alejandro J. Agsalda, administering officer-forensic unit; accomplices in the planting of evidence.
The Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame has yet to comment on the case as of press time, despite repeated requests by the Standard.
Mauricio said he was not out to exact revenge against the police officers and their accomplices, who all conspired and planted evidence to make it appear that his son was into the sale of illegal drugs and therefore, a high-value individual (HVI in police parlance).
“This is a quest for justice and truth so that my son (and other people similarly situated) will be cleared of wrongful accusations. I submitted clear CCTV recordings of what really happened. The police wore no body-cams and merely presented pictures of a re-enactment of a buy-bust,” Mauricio said. “Obviously, it was a moro-moro, farcical buy-bust,” he added.
A police report submitted to the Bulacan Provincial Police Office said the case arose from an alleged “buy-bust” operation by agents of the Bulacan provincial drug enforcement unit, provincial intelligence unit, and the Malolos Police Station, all under Arnedo’s overall command. The operation led to the arrest of Mauricio’s son, Oliver Paul, who has been detained since Aug. 16.
The report also said that the poseur-buyers “confiscated from the arrested suspect two pieces of plastic sachets containing suspected shabu and another two pieces of plastic sachets of suspected cocaine.”
The police report said the time of arrest of Oliver Paul happened at exactly 6:15 PM on Aug. 16, in Barangay Mojon, Malolos City, in a corner street adjacent to the Mauricio residence.
This was contested by Mauricio, who said that footage of CCTV would reveal the truth and the fact that the supposed “arrest” took place earlier around 4:00 pm that same day.
This only proved that the arrest was part of a “moro-moro” intended to please someone, Mauricio said in his complaint.
While the cops were making the arrest, his son was pleading for mercy and begging for help. (Tulungan niyo ako. Tawagin niyo ang Papa ko. Inaaresto ako!) His son’s loud cries for help were heard by witnesses (tricycle drivers) at a nearby transport waiting station.
At that point, Mauricio managed to gather enough strength. “In spite of a fever, I rushed towards the tricycle waiting area and saw my son being shoved into a white car, crying and screaming for help: “Papa, Papa, tulungan niyo ako! Papa!”
Mauricio said he then approached one of the arresting cops who was about to board the unmarked white car and asked: “Bakit niyo inaaresto ang anak ko? Anong krimen ang nagawa niya?” Mauricio said the cop who turned out to be SSG Uring alighted from the white car and gave a menacing look: “Huwag kang makialam dito! Kilala kita!” Mauricio said he pressed for an answer: “May warrant of arrest ba kayo?”
“The cop drew a pistol from his waist, pointed it at my face, and threatened me: Huwag kang lalapit. Idadamay ka namin dito!” Mauriciosaid, quoting the cop.
Mauricio said he froze as he was stunned at the sight of a gun ready to fire and blow him to smithereens.
It happened so fast, Mauricio said. “The kidnapping of my son took place at 4:07 PM and all the actions were recorded on CCTVs”, which now formed part of Mauricio’s evidence against the police team.
Two hours later, around 6:03 PM, a convoy of vehicles with Uring and his team in the lead car returned to the scene, together with a DOJ representative, media and a barangay kagawad.
This, Mauricio said, was intended to make the arrest of my son look legitimate, credible, and transparent. But in truth and in fact, the arrest was stage-managed and the shabu and cocaine as evidence were fabricated and planted, Mauricio said in his complaint sheet.
He also questioned the police director at Camp Alejo Santos prohibiting a TV news crew (GMA-7) from covering the arrest and detention of Oliver Paul when he was supposed to be a high-value individual as the police claimed.
At the behest of only one man, media was gagged and press freedom was now under constant threat, Mauricio said. He also filed Cyber Libel charges against Col. Arnedo and all the Bulacan policemen involved in the case for portraying his son as a ‘high-value individual’ drug suspect.
Copies of the affidavit with counter-charge, CCTV footage, and all other pieces of evidence have also been submitted to the Office of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security for proper action, Mauricio said.