SPO1 Adonis Dumpit, while taking a breather from processing his transfer documents, takes time to answer questions from the media regarding his return to the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON).
Within the streets of Maria Gochan, Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City, just a few meters away from the national road, Police Station 11 is a hustle and bustle of activities as people going about their business pass by.
Parents taking their children to the nearby local day care center, people going to the public gym, policemen starting their day off, and cats streaking around doing what cats do.
It was a Wednesday.
Although the area is not entirely obscure, it is a bit daunting to locate for the unfamiliar, as no public utility jeepney pass by the road.
Yet the easy lull of the place, away from the public market, public schools, and other common establishments often seen in busy neighborhoods got a jolt last Nov. 7, when Cebu’s most colorful police personality appeared and reported for work.
A man of few words, SPO1 Adonis Dumpit is not the type to court the spotlight or even start a little conversation; yet the mere mention of his name is enough to get many people talking.
Who then is “Dumpit”, behind the infamy of being tagged responsible for hunting down dozens of criminals as head of the ‘90s crime-busting group called “Hunter Team”.
More than a decade ago, Dumpit made the headlines for shooting to death 17-year-old crime suspect Ronron Go in 2004.
For the death of Go, Dumpit was convicted by the Cebu Regional Trial Court for homicide in August 2014 from the original charge of murder.
The tough cop had been making waves for purging the city of criminals with the full support of the mayor, Tomas Osmeña.
With Dumpit, controversy was never scarce as he was tagged in the deaths of three crime suspects and the wounding of a dozen others in the late nineties.
His colorful past precedes him; but behind the name, Dumpit is a quiet and serious man who is also a father and a son.
On that sunny Wednesday morning in his new office at Police Station 11, Dumpit talked about his life, giving a rare glimpse into a side of him that the public rarely sees.
Big family
Coming from a typically big Filipino family, Dumpit is the eighth of ten children equally divided into five boys and five girls.
He was born on May 13, 1963 to Napoleon and Liwayway Dumpit along Bonifacio Street in Davao City, making him 53 years old at present.
His father is deceased, while his mother, who is still based in Davao City, will be turning 84 years old next year.
A dutiful son, Dumpit visited his mother right after his release from prison, before reporting back for work.
According to Dumpit, his relationship with his siblings is no different from others.
“Okay ra man, wala ra man mi problema sa akong mga igsuon (We’re okay, we don’t have a problem),” said Dumpit.
Originally from La Union in Ilocos, Dumpit’s grandfather was a Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduate of 1918, who was assigned in Davao City and eventually decided to settle there after marrying a Reyes.
From grades one to four, Dumpit was enrolled at Bauang Elementary School in La Union until the declaration of Martial Law.
By then, his family decided to go back to Davao City where he was enrolled at Salambajon Elementary School until the sixth grade before going on to Maryknoll High School.
However, Dumpit did not graduate from Maryknoll but in Baganga Provincial High School, where his aunt was the school principal.
“From first year to fourth year, Maryknoll High School then pag-graduate gyud sa Baganga Provincial High School. Ni-drop out lang jud then mibalhin sa Provincial kay ang akong auntie didto man principal, (I studied in Maryknoll from first year to fourth year but just as I was about to graduate, I dropped out and moved to Baganga Provincial High School where my auntie was the principal,” said Dumpit, showing a tinge of a smile as he recalled his teenage years.
Seafarer
Like many Filipino mothers who saw their sons as seafarers traveling the world in work overseas searching for greener pasture, Dumpit said his mother wanted him to take up a nautical course.
But he wanted to be a policeman and insisted on taking up criminology.
“Ang gusto ni mama sauna kay nautical man then ako kay crim. Sa among pamilya, ako ra ang police pero sa among kaliwat, naa’y police (Mama wanted me to take up nautical but I preferred criminology. In our family, I’m the only policeman but I have other police relatives),” Dumpit said.
An alumnus of the University of the Visayas, Dumpit said that he would have enrolled in PMA, like his grandfather did, but his being flat-footed nicked any chance of admission into the prestigious military school.
Just a few years after graduating in 1991, Dumpit entered a new chapter of his life.
He married in 1994 and had a son within the same year.
However, his relationship with his wife failed to work out, he said, and by 2008, the marriage was annulled.
His son is now 22 years old taking up a course in psychology.
Police career
After his graduation, Dumpit was first assigned in Bohol for several years before his assignment to Cebu City in 1999.
He got acquainted with Mayor Osmeña when he was detailed at the Cebu City Hall to become the mayor’s police escort for several years.
It was during this time that Osmeña formed the “Hunter Team”, a group of elite cops and sharp shooters headed by Dumpit, dreaded by criminals in Cebu City.
New life
For the killing of the teenage crime suspect in 2004, Dumpit was detained at the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center for four years and two months while his homicide case was pending.
In May 2011, he was transferred to the Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog Town, Southern Leyte.
Last May, Dumpit’s petition for bail was granted by the Court of Appeals 20th Division in Cebu City pending his appeal.
He was allowed to post a P250,000 bail and was ordered to appear in court if summoned.
Osmeña paid Dumpit’s bail and had his son, Miguel, fetch his most trusted cop from jail as soon he was released.
In granting his bail, the appellate court noted that Dumpit had actually served out his minimum prison term of six years and exhibited good behavior during his incarceration.
In the interview with Cebu Daily News, Dumpit was relatively tight-lipped about his time behind bars except to say that not everyone in prison were guilty of the crimes they were accused of.
“Okay ra man. Ma-mingle-mingle nato ang uban nga mga tawo didto. Dili tanan nga priso didto sad-an. Naa ma’y uban nga wala jud (It was okay. I got to mingle with a lot of people. Not everyone there is guilty. There are others who are not),” Dumpit said.
Though raised a Catholic, Dumpit said that he was not the religious type and only learned to pray the rosary in prison.
It was not unusual for prisoners to turn to God while in jail as He is the only one they could call to in a place as desolate as one behind bars, he said.
With only three more years before his mandatory retirement, Dumpit hoped that his case would be resolved soon.
“At least two years na lang guro, mo-retire na ko, ang edad nako karon is 53, mag-54 ko karong May 13, gamay na lang. Wa pa man nahuman akong kaso sa Court of Appeals. Ako lang kuanon to nga mahuman og dali (I just have to wait two more years. I’m 53 now and I will be 54 on May 13. My case is still pending with the Court of Appeals but I will do my best to have it resolved soon),” he said.
If the appellate court reverses the decision of the RTC, Dumpit explained that it would result to his acquittal; but if the decision is upheld, it would not necessarily mean his re-imprisonment as he had already served the minimum sentence of six years for homicide.
With retirement in the near horizon, Dumpit, prefers to keep his life private this time around and was bashful when asked about his future plans.
“Wala ra man. Ang ingon bitaw ni Kim Atienza, ang buhay ay weather-weather lang,” he said.
As Dumpit moves into a new chapter of his life, his story will serve as a reminder that life’s struggles will always be there and one just has to roll with the punches to survive.