Senior Supt. Noli Romana (right), chief of the Cebu City Police Office, talks to PO2 Ronilo Manuel, who was detained at the Fuente Police Station. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
A policeman who has been declared absent without official leave (AWOL) was arrested after he and a companion were accused of robbing a woman in Cebu City at dawn yesterday.
PO2 Ronilo Manuel went to the Fuente Police Station to clear his name, but he was placed under arrest after he was identified by the victim, Rochel Cueco, as among those who held her up along R. Landon Street.
Also arrested was Benito Andres Abear.
According to investigators, Cueco, 22, was with her friends at past 3 a.m. when two men onboard a motorcycle showed up and declared a hold-up at gunpoint.
Cueco told police that one of the robbers took her shoulder bag containing a cell phone and cash amounting to P4,000.
The robbers sped off after the incident. Cueco went to the police station to report the incident.
Police said that someone who saw the incident revealed that one of the alleged robbers had the same features as PO2 Manuel.
Police then showed Cueco the policeman’’s photos on Facebook. It was then that victim identified Manuel as one of the robbers.
Manuel was in uniform when he and Abear went to the police station.
Chief Insp. David Senior, chief of the Fuente Police Station, ordered to have Manuel and Abear arrested when they arrived at the police precinct.
Senior told reporters that Manuel has not been reporting for duty at the Public Safety Battalion of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).
In an interview, Manuel denied the accusation against him. He said he was asleep at home at the time of the incident.
“I was surprised when I was arrested since I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Manuel in Cebuano.
The policeman said he is ready to face the charges and expressed confidence that he will be cleared of the crime.
Abear, who was previously arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, also denied involvement in the crime.
Senior Supt. Noli Romana, chief of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said the policeman will face criminal and administrative investigations.