DILG orders charges vs 17 cops in ‘hazing’ incident

08/04/2011 | 07:36 PM

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo on Thursday ordered the filing of criminal and administrative charges against 17 police officers for their alleged involvement in a hazing incident in Laguna.

The investigation stemmed from two video clips of the hazing incident presented by the Commission on Human Rights to Philippine National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo on Wednesday.

“These violators can’t call themselves law enforcers as they have no place in the police service. They can neither protect human rights nor uphold the rule of law if they themselves are the first ones who would transgress them, inflicting torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment to young police recruits and using the police camps as their torture training grounds," Robredo said.

The hazing allegedly happened at Camp Eldridge in Los Baños, Laguna.

Robredo said he was surprised by the footage, saying he was not aware that hazing is still being practiced inside police camps in the country.

"When I saw the videos provided to us by the CHR, I learned that there are still officers who are bold enough to defy the law and tolerate institutional hazing and torture," he said.

Robredo said two of the police officers ordered charged were Senior Inspector Leopoldo Ferrer Jr. and Senior Inspector Klinto Rex Jamorol, the immediate superiors of the other embroiled lawmen.

Ferrer is the commanding officer of the 1st Maneuver Company of the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB), while Jamorol is the course director of the PNP Special Counter-insurgency Operation Unit Training (SCOUT).

The following policemen were seen in one of the video clips forcing recruits to drink a "chili solution" and lick an RPSB logo inside the police camp:

PO1 Rique Oro;
PO1 Rovvlynh Addatu;
PO1 Evan Mark Quartero;
PO1 Marfe Adier;
PO1 Jhun Plonelo and;
PO1 Allan Pascua.

In a second video clip, other policemen were seen applying "chili solution" the private parts of the police recruits. They were:

PO1 Melvin C. Malihan;
PO1 Troy I. Sumayod;
PO1 Randy Nabayra;
PO1 Jodgi Vergara;
PO1 Ezel Parpa;
PO1 Ramil De Guzman;
PO1 Crisanto Victorio;
PO1 Arnel Yadis; and
PO1 Alberto Umali.

The 17 have all been relieved from their posts, with 14 of them, who are trainors, reassigned to the Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (RPHAU) of the Calabarzon Regional Police to ensure their availability during the investigation.

Bacalzo said he has ordered a "full-dress" investigation on the incident and appointed Calabarzon regional police director Chief Superintendent Gil Meneses to lead the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) that will look into it.

Aside from the SITG, the PNP's Internal Affairs Service and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group will also be holding a "parallel administrative and criminal investigation."

Authorities said the police officers will face charges in violation of Republic Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act, and Republic Act 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Act. If proven guilty, the officers could face dismissal, Robredo said.

Robredo warned that other police officers who might have known about the incident but did nothing to prevent it would also be held criminally and administratively liable.

Camp Eldridge, one of the 17 PNP training camps, is the home of the 564th Engineering Construction Battalion under the Philippine Army’s 51st Engineering Brigade. The camp is also being shared with the PNP as training camp for recruits for the RPSB’s SCOUT program. - KBK, GMA News