P03 Ryan Quiamco, in this photo taken on July 9, 2007, was in full SWAT uniform as he and other elite policemen from the Cebu Provincial Police Office assisted election officials in transporting contested ballots from Bogo City to Cebu City. Quiamco was killed by fellow cops in a drug bust in Barangay Pooc, Talisay City, on Aug. 15, 2017
CDN FILE PHOTO
Not even death can extinguish PO3 Ryan Quiamco’s run-ins with the law.
The Internal Affairs Services (IAS) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is seeking the forfeiture of Quiamco’s properties that are believed to be acquired through illegal means.
Supt. Jose Carumba, chief of the Regional Internal Affairs Services in Central Visayas (RIAS-7), said they conducted a lifestyle investigation on Quiamco shortly after the policeman was publicly identified as a drug coddler by President Rodrigo Duterte in August 2016.
Based on their investigation, the 37-year-old police officer had accumulated numerous properties which were out of proportion to his salary of at least P23,000 per month, Carumba said.
Quiamco’s properties purportedly included five cars, 20 motorcycles, four houses in Talisay City, a fighting cock farm in Carcar City, and two farms — one located in Anda town in Bohol and another in San Fernando town in southern Cebu.
All 20 motorcycles were not registered with the Land Transportation Office, according to Carumba.
“We already submitted a report on the lifestyle investigation we conducted against PO3 Quiamco to the IAS in Camp Crame,” Carumba said.
While an investigation is being conducted against Quiamco, Carumba said the IAS will ask the Cebu court to freeze the assets of the slain policeman.
After which, the IAS will seek a court ruling to forfeit the policeman’s real estate and other assets in favor of the government.
IAS, he said, is also moving to cancel all of Quiamco’s benefits, which his family is supposed to receive.
At the time of his death, Quiamco was still in active service even as he was placed in floating status and assigned to the PNP’s Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU) in Camp Crame, the PNP’s national headquarters located in Quezon City.
“His death extinguished only his criminal liabilities, but his administrative cases remain,” Carumba said.
“If found liable, he could lose all his benefits as a police officer,” he added.
Carumba, however, stressed that the forfeiture of the policeman’s wealth and benefits should go through the regular court proceedings.
“Hindi naman pwede na dahil namatay na siya ay kukunin na natin. Isasa-korte natin ito. Hindi naman pwedeng puntahan natin yung bahay niya at tapos kunin natin yung properties,” he explained.
(We could not just take all his properties simply because he is dead. We have to let the court conduct a trial. We could not go to his house and take away his properties.)
Quiamco, who was formerly assigned to the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, was killed when he allegedly tried to engage fellow policemen in a shootout after he was subjected to a drug bust along a section of the South Road Properties in Cebu City past 6 p.m. on Aug. 15, a Tuesday.
Sensing that it was a police setup, Quiamco reportedly drove his Isuzu D-Max car while firing at his fellow policemen who pursued him on board their patrol cars.
The operatives chased and caught up with Quiamco on S. Bacalso Street in Barangay Pooc in Talisay City where the latter’s vehicle was peppered with bullets by the police.
Quiamco died from several gunshot wounds on his head and body.
His fifth-month pregnant wife Rizalyn, who was with him inside their vehicle, sustained gunshot wounds on her body and died later in a hospital in Cebu City.
Three bystanders and another policeman were also hit by stray bullets but were out of danger.
Recovered from inside Quiamco’s car were packs of shabu and a .45 caliber pistol, according to Supt. Jonathan Cabal, the head of the Regional Intelligence Division in Central Visayas (RID-7) that conducted the buy-bust operation.
The probe
The Commission on Human Rights in Central Visayas (CHR-7) on Wednesday stepped in to investigate the killing of Quiamco and Rizalyn amid questions raised on the manner with which the policeman and his wife were killed.
CHR-7 Chief Arvin Odron said they want to know whether or not the shootout was legitimate.
Cabal welcomed the investigation conducted by the CHR-7, saying they have nothing to fear as they were not hiding anything.
“We have to adhere to proper operating procedures and be observant to human rights, the rule of law and everything that will negate negative impressions upon the police,” he said in an interview on Thursday.
Moreover, Cabal noted it was already questionable why Quiamco was in Cebu when he was supposed to be held at the PHAU in Camp Crame.
He said they were investigating the police officers assigned at the PHAU to find out who made Quiamco appear to be in Camp Crame when he was actually allegedly running a drug operation in Cebu.
Cabal said Quiamco’s family expressed apprehension about conducting an autopsy on the policeman’s body.
“But I insisted. An autopsy will prove what really happened. We want to negate doubts in police operations,” he said.
The wife too
Based on their monitoring, Cabal said Quiamco had amassed wealth through illegal means since 2014.
“His properties do not correspond to his salary as a policeman,” he said.
Cabal claimed Quiamco’s wife Rizalyn was also involved in the illegal drugs trade.
“Just to clarify, it was not only Ryan who was the target of our operation. We were also after his wife,” he said.
Cabal said they received a directive from their superiors in Camp Crame to conduct a thorough investigation into “high-value targets” in their lists of suspected drug traders.
But he said killing drug suspects helplessly is not an option.
Cabal warned other policemen and people involved in the illegal drugs trade to stop their criminal activities or they will face the consequences of their actions.
He also appealed to the public to help them in the fight against illegal drugs.
“We should always support each other because the police are really trying to eradicate illegal drugs in our region. And even if our targets include one of our own policemen, we will still go after them. We are here to serve and protect (the people),” Cabal said.
No comment
Cebu Daily News visited Cebu Rolling Hills Memorial Chapels in Mandaue City where Quiamco’s body was being attended.
But a staff of the funeral house said the policeman’s remains were moved to St. Peter’s Funeral Homes on Imus Street in Cebu City to join his wife’s body.
The Quiamco family refused to issue any statement to the media.