MANILA, Philippines – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima admitted on Wednesday, January 16, that he is unsure of the background of a cop who was charged and arrested for double murder over a decade ago, and who is now being linked to the Quezon shooting.

Senior Supt Glenn Dumlao, who turned state witness in the 2001 Dacer-Corbito double murder case years after being arrested for the abduction and killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito, was relieved from the Philippine National Police (PNP) due to the charges.

He was reinstated just last year and assigned to Calabarzon, supposedly with the Regional Public Safety Battalion there.

Now he is being tagged as one of those that signed “Coplan Armado,” an operation targeting Victor “Vic” Siman, who allegedly operated the illegal numbers game, jueteng.

Siman was one of those who died in the shooting.

Purisima confirmed that Dumlao would be investigated by the NBI as part of their investigation but said “so far, there are no possible administrative charges that the PNP can give him.”

When asked how Dumlao returned to the force and whether there had been administrative actions taken against Dumlao, Purisima said he would have to check Dumlao’s record and his previous case, admitting all he knew was that Dumlao was relieved then reinstated.

It was Supt Hansel Marantan, head of the Calabarzon Regional Special Operations Group, who said Dumlao had signed the operation, along with Marantan and regional police director Chief Supt James Melad.

Dumlao is the only one of the 3 who has not yet been relieved by the PNP following the Quezon incident.

Marantan was injured while he was manning the checkpoint in Atimonan, Quezon, where the shooting took place. Unconfirmed reports link him to a criminal gang that is supposedly in conflict with the gang led by Siman.

On January 6, police killed Siman and 12 others who were riding in vehicles that approached their checkpoint. Initially reported as a shootout, suspicions have emerged on the motive of the killing after unusual facts surfaced following the deaths.

Dumlao’s return

Chief Superintendent Federico Castro, who led the fact-finding search on the Quezon shooting for the PNP, admitted to Rappler that they looked into Dumlao’s reported involvement as part of their probe. But Castro denied to talk about what they discovered.

Chief Supt Generoso Cerbo, the spokesman of the PNP, said Dumlao underwent the reinstatement process and was treated fairly by the PNP.

“He was cleared of all charges and was deemed innocent,” Cerbo said in defending Dumlao’s return.

In explaining Dumlao’s reinstatement, Chief Supt Lito Cuy, the head of the PNP Directorate for Personnel, said Dumlao had appealed his dismissal to the National Police Commission (Napolcom), which then approved his appeal and directed the PNP to reinstate him.

Cuy said that cops have the right to appeal their relief either to their regional directors or to higher offices like Napolcom depending on the severity of their offense.

Once submitted, the appeal is evaluated by the review board assigned to study violations, and if justified, issues an order to the PNP to reinstate the official, as was the case with Dumlao.

But Cuy said that if were up to the PNP alone, they preferred not to reinstate dismissed cops.

“We would rather not take back cops we have let go but if there is a higher office that direct us and there is a justification in the appeal, we have no course but to comply,” he said.

In 2000, Dacer and Corbito were abducted and later found dead, their bodies burned, in a creek in Cavite. Dumlao was charged with the murders and arrested in 2001.

He pointed to then President Joseph Estrada and then PNP chief and now Senator Panfilo Lacson as having known about the killings.

Both Estrada and Lacson denied knowledge of the murder, but in 2010, the Department of Justice charged Lacson with double murder. Lacson left the country and went into hiding.

Dumlao later took back his testimony against Lacson, who was eventually dismissed of his involvement in 2011. – Rappler.com