THE Philippine National Police on Friday sacked 297 policemen from three precincts in Caloocan City and plans to kick out the entire 1,000-member contingent of the Northern Police District after city cops were implicated in the killing of three minors in August
The 297 sacked personnel were assigned at Police Community Precinct (PCP) 7, which was home to three of the men tagged in the killing of Grade 11 student Kian delos Santos; PCP-2, where members of the force shot and killed Carl Angelo Arnaiz, 19; and PCP-4, where members forced their way into the house of an old woman.
Metro Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said all police personnel in Caloocan would undergo retraining and reorientation before being reassigned to other police units, not necessarily in Manila.
Albayalde did not say how long the retraining would last and how long it would take for the entire police force in Caloocan to be replaced.
“Their relief will be done via batches. Eventually we will reshuffle the whole Caloocan City Police,” Albayalde said.
On Wednesday, 11 members of the NPD-District Public Safety Battalion were seen on CCTV taking valuables from a house during a supposed drug operation, forcing the National Capital Region Police Office to take prompt action.
Albayalde said the 11 members of the unit that took part in robbery have been kicked out.
The Metro Manila police chief said those relieved will be temporarily replaced by members of the Regional Public Safety Battalion of the NCRPO and District Safety Battalion of the NPD.
The Justice department, meanwhile, has placed the parents of 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman under the government’s witness protection program.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II announced that Eduardo and Lina De Guzman-Dimaganti have been admitted to the WPP after meeting them on Friday.
Aguirre said he promptly acted on their request for protection and ordered Justice Undersecretary Raymundo L. Mecate to process their application.
“This afternoon they were admitted into the WPP…We want the parents of Kulot to know that they can trust the government’s WPP,” Aguirre said.
“The WPP is the only entity empowered under the law to secure witnesses to a crime and to take care of them,” Aguirre added.
Kulot’s parents, together with the parents of 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz have filed a double murder complaint against two police officers and the cab driver allegedly robbed by Arnaiz.
Carl and Kulot disappeared early last month. Arnaiz’ body was found in Caloocan while Kulot’s body was recovered in Gapan, Nueva Ecija.
Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan welcomed the police reshuffle.
“We know that there are still many good Caloocan cops but there is a need for a drastic change to rid the roster of the rotten ones who continuously taint the image and name of the city,” Malapitan said in Filipino, in a message he sent to the media. With Rey E. Requejo and Jun David