Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano. | CDN Digital Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) Director Engelbert Soriano has warned his men against being negligent of their duties.
Soriano said those who will be found guilty of being remiss of their duties will be slapped with administrative charges.
Soriano made the statement after learning about a complaint from a family member in Alcoy town in southern Cebu, whose brother was killed in 2018 and who was allegedly denied any form of assistance from the municipal police station.
Rubelyn Mosqueda, in an interview, said the police personnel told them to bewitch the killers instead since they were not able to identify any of the four suspects who killed her brother in a shooting incident.
Soriano said it is very improper for the police to come out with such advice considering that they are considered professionals.
“Unang una, napaka-improper nang handling nila ng parties. Pangalawa, uncalled for yung kanilang mga remarks, kung totoo ito. Yung sinabi nila, hindi dapat lumalabas sa bunganga ng isang propesyonal na police yan,” he said.
“Ito ang nagiging stand ko since nag-assume ako dito (sa CPPO), na very strict kami sa police na nag-violate talaga ng either ordinansa or mga policies dito sa PNP or dito sapag-handle ng mga kaso,” he added.
Soriano urged Mosqueda to visit his office for him to know firsthand the details of the complaint stressing that it might be the better avenue to address her concern.
Should there be similar treatment in case they will seek assistance again from their municipal police stations, he urged the complainants to come to his office, assuring them of his impartiality in handling complaints.
“The easiest way is to come to me para pag-usapan. And I assure them of my impartiality sa pag-handle ng kanilang reklamo. Hindi rin natin i-cocover yung mga police, kahit sino pa yan na mga kasama namin kung talaga namang may misconduct sa part niya,” he said.
“Alam niyo ang laging illustration ko sa kanila, halimbawa, may pupunta na isang party, either yung victim mismo or pamilya ng biktima, ang sabi ko wag na wag kong malaman na sasabihin niyo na bumalik po kayo sa isang araw o sa isang lingo kasi absent po yung imbestigador na humahawak sa kaso. What more kung ganyan yung sinabi ng police, so talagang papatulan po namain yan basta may basis lang po yung reklamo sa kanya,” he added.
However, Soriano said they will also help the police personnel if the charges are found to be trumped up.
He reminded the complainants to always be conscious of the proper protocols in lodging complaints. /rcg