DUMPIT
The return of SPO1 Adonis Dumpit to the Cebu City police force now seems to be just a matter of time with the controversial police officer expected to post bail and gain temporary liberty by tomorrow, Monday.
At the very least, Dumpit will return as the close-in bodyguard and aide of Cebu City Mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña, the incoming mayor told Cebu Daily News.
When Osmeña posted on his Facebook page that he was happy that Dumpit would soon be freed from jail, one netizen posted a warning, “the kraken is back.”(The Kraken is a legendary and dreaded octopus-like sea monster from Norse mythology that is said to dwell in the waters of Norway and Greenland and known to annihilate anyone that crosses its path.)
But another netizen hailed Dumpit with, “the sharpshooter of Cebu is back!” while others thanked Osmeña for bailing him out, saying that with Dumpit soon out of jail, Cebu City would now be clean and free from drug pushers and other criminals.
Osmeña, noted as much, saying in his Facebook post that the drug den allegedly operating just ten meters from City Hall “isn’t going to be around much longer.”
Despite the controversy generated by Dumpit’s alleged involvement in an extrajudicial killing case that landed him in jail in the last six years, or since 2010, the Cebu City Police Office is set to welcome him with open arms.
Senior Supt. Benjamin Santos Jr., Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) chief, said that since Dumpit has been cleared of any administrative liability, he could return as a member of the city’s Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat), the last post he held before he was accused of killing a 17-year-old robbery suspect in a police operation in 2004. “(It is a matter of) putting the right person to the right job. If he was a member of the Swat team before, then most probably he will return as a Swat member,” said Santos.
But Janeth Badana, the mother of the slain suspected robber, told Cebu Daily News she would be filing a motion for reconsideration to contest the Court of Appeals ruling that allowed Dumpit to post bail.
In 2011, the late Jesse Robredo, then Interior and Local Government secretary, cleared Dumpit of the administrative charges, in relation to the death of the 17-year-old suspected robber, removing all impediments for his return to the police service.
Some of his police colleagues, who asked not to be named, said they were happy when they learned that the Court of Appeals (CA) had granted bail to Dumpit, admitting they were unabashed admirers of the policeman they described as a “sharpshooter” who never showed any signs of fear when confronted by criminals.
However, Santos stressed that Dumpit’s return would not mean the comeback of the “vigilante way” of addressing crimes.
“The (Philippine National Police) PNP is undergoing a transformation program. Vigilante style is an old way of beating crime. We want to be professionals here, we want to catch criminals as people would want them to be arrested, (when) caught red-handed. We at the PNP, strongly condone vigilante killings,” Santos added.
When asked if he would be willing to revive the “Hunter Team,” a special police squad tasked to go after criminal elements, Santos said he would still have to decide if having a Hunter Team could work within the policies and protocols set by the PNP.
Dumpit was convicted in 2014 for the killing of 17-year-old robbery suspect Ronron Allosada Go in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City.
Dumpit was initially charge with murder but the case was downgraded to homicide as the prosecution failed to prove that there was “treachery and use of superior strength” involved when Dumpit shot Go.
Dumpit’s lawyers later elevated his case to the Court of Appeals and asked the policeman be allowed to post bail while the case is on appeal, citing as well the good behavior of Dumpit inside the Leyte Regional Prison in Albuyog, Southern Leyte.
VINDICATION
Supt. Henry Biñas, chief of the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division (RIDMD) who is most familiar in handling cases of erring police officers, explained Dumpit has not been dismissed from police service.
“As far as we can recall, (the) administrative case filed (against Dumpit) before the National Police Commission (Napolcom) got dismissed.
Meanwhile, his criminal charges are still pending with no final conviction yet so I find no reason that he cannot return to police service,” Biñas told
CDN. Robredo, then head of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) that heard the administrative case against Dumpit, had ruled that the policeman was not liable for grave misconduct since the quantum of proof against him had not been established.
“Respondent’s (Dumpit) evidence that he performed his duty regularly far outweighed the evidence of the prosecution,” Robredo said in his decision released to the parties in 2011.
Robredo then went on to add: “As a law enforcer, (the) respondent was duty-bound to apprehend and prevent the escape of law offenders. The embattled police officer did not have the luxury of time, neither did he have much choice.”
Biñas said Dumpit’s six-year absence from the police force “could be justified,” which means that he could be reinstated after posting bail.
“The automatic leave without pay may be applied to Dumpit’s case. This means he is automatically considered on leave while in prison,” Biñas told Cebu Daily News by phone.
Supt. Glenn Ares, deputy chief of Police Community Relations (PCR) of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO-7), likewise hailed Dumpit’s impending freedom.
Ares was Dumpit’s former direct superior after the latter was recruited in 1992 to the Regional Special Action Force (RSAF), now called the Regional Public Safety Battalion, in Central Visayas,
“Maayo hinoon na karon nga makagawas siya. Maayo gyud to siya nga police, isog gyud ba unya dili mahadlok, dako gyud na iyang matabang sa pagsugpo sa krimen diris syudad (It is good to hear about his release from prison. He was a good police officer, one who did not fear any criminal, he can help fight criminals in Cebu City),” Ares said to CDN.
Ares, was a former company commander of one of the RSAF teams to which Dumpit belonged. Back in the 1990’s, RSAF was responsible for counterinsurgency operations in the provinces of Bohol and Negros Occidental and for going after communist rebels in their mountains lairs.
It was on Dec. 14, 2004 when Dumpit responded to a robbery alarm in Barangay Villagonzalo II and chased two suspects. One of the robbers aimed a gun at Dumpit, prompting the policeman to fire first at the suspected robber.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said that the decision of Osmeña to shoulder Dumpit’s P250,000 bail only proved that “birds of the same feather flock together.”
“It’s not news. That should not even be a news. Are they now showing (that birds of) the same feather flock together?” he said.
Rama also said he had no time to mull over Dumpit’s prospective return to active service since he was too focused dealing with his defeat to Osmeña in the mayoral race, a loss he said he intended to question through an election protest case.