Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 27) — Eight policemen seen roughing up a man in a viral video have been “pulled out” from the police station pending investigation.
This comes after Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña named one of the policemen in the video — Police Sergeant Reoven Carmelo Rota — and identified him as the team leader of the Talamban Police Station Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) who allegedly mauled the civilian as seen in the video.
Osmeña also said that based on information he received from several sources, the other policemen in the video have the names Tagalog, Magdali, Lagunsad, Tudtud, and Adalim.
In a press briefing Saturday, Regional Police Director, Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas said the cops were pulled out as the inquiry into the video is starting. Sinas added they cannot relieve the policemen of their duties as election laws prevent them from doing so.
He, however, clarified there was a legitimate police operation on Maundy Thursday — the day the incident took place — which resulted in the arrest of Eddie Basillote, an alleged drug peddler.
But Sinas said they would not cover for those proven to have acted wrongly, and would conduct an internal investigation on the incident.
Cebu City Police Director Royina Garma for her part said the eight would report to her directly.
“We will just pull them out from the station but they will still perform police work but not related to drug enforcement while we are investigating if the allegation is true or not,” she said.
Police authorities not naming cops in video
Both Garma and Sinas, however, would not identify the cops.
Garma said those in the video could not be properly recognized due to the poor quality of the material.
Osmeña earlier chided Garma for saying she was unconvinced of the cops’ identities. In a post on social media, the mayor called out Garma for saying, “there is no conclusion that the incident is serious.”
Reacting to Osmeña’s accusations, Garma said, “You can just simply allege. Napakadali gumawa ng istorya. The next story there is can you prove it? Madali manira ng mga tao at institution kung gusto mong bumagsak. Ang tanong, ma prove mo ba?”
[Translation: You can just simply allege. It’s so easy to make up a story. The next story here is can you prove it? It’s easy to destroy a person’s reputation as well as an institution if you want them to fail. But the quation is do you have proof?]
Basillote has been transferred to the Cebu City Police Office headquarters detention facility in Camp Sotero Cabahug.
