A day after reporting back to work on Wednesday, Chief Supt. Wildemar Tiu was packing his things in the Fuente police station.
He “voluntarily” asked for relief from his post ,said Senior Supt. Marciano Batiancela, OIC Cebu city police director.
Tiu changed his plan of continuing as chief of the Fuente precinct after hearing that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wanted him reassigned until the investigation into the April 6 death of child beggar Chastity Mirabiles is finished.
“For now, he’s in the administrative holding office pending an investigation. We will wait until he is cleared from his cases. It’s better that he is here so people won’t say there is bias in the investigation,” said Batiancela.
READ: Tiu faces probe over child abuse
Tiu, meanwhile, will face an administrative hearing for a separate case of alleged maltreatment of street children.
He has to answer a complaint that Fuente police forcibly shaved the heads of young girls rounded up in the Libod Suroy Program.
Two girls have executed affidavits. A third did not return to submit her statement.
READ: Bar girl says Fuente station chief molested her
In this case, first reported by the Department of Social Welfare Services, three girls aged 7, 13 and 14 were apprehended on April 6 for caroling inside a jeepney along Jones Avenue.
They were detained in the Fuente station for several hours. Their heads were forcibly shaved, which was “very humiliating and degrading, a form of emotional abuse”, according to the official report.
When first asked about the incident, the women’s desk officer in Fuente station said it was the “protocol of their office” for grooming and hygiene purposes.
The head-shaving incident was one of three cases of “police brutality” involving minors handled by Fuente police reported by Cebu City social workers in April, including the death of Chastity.
READ: Cop chief hopes NBI probe to clear his name on Chastity case
The head-shaving case was recommended for a pre-charge investigation by police investigators.
Summary hearing officer, Chief Insp. Jose Gesto, said he will send a summons to Tiu to file his counter-affidavit within five days.
After he replies, a pre-hearing conference will be held. “A hearing will take place. Tiu is entitled to his own lawyer. Within two months the case can be resolved or longer based on recommendations of ther regional director who has final say,” he said.
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