Purisima denies sitting on admin cases vs rogue cops

Bea Cupin

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Purisima denies sitting on admin cases vs rogue cops
Reacting to Napolcom's complaints of delays, the PNP chief says his office receives hundreds of complaints every month, and he has to study them thoroughly before endorsing

MANILA, Philippines – The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday, September 12, denied that the organization is the cause of delay in the final resolutions of cases against cops.

In a statement, Director General Alan Purisima said the PNP “does not sit on administrative cases, leaving them pending for long periods of time.” 

Purisima was reacting to National Police Commission (Napolcom) Vice Chairman Eduardo Escueta’s statement implying that the PNP was to blame for the slow resolution of a case against two erring cops.

The heads of Napolcom and PNP were speaking about a case against Senior Police Officer 1 Ramel Hachero and Police Officer 2 Jonathan Rodriguez from 2011 for robbery, abduction and extortion.

The two officers are also tagged in a recent high-profile EDSA robbery and kidnapping case that seemed to follow the same modus.

The two are set to be dismissed from the PNP for the 2011 incident, but their dismissal papers are still pending. Escueta told reporters the draft resolution was submitted to Purisima for approval, but this was returned to Napolcom only after 5 months. Even then, the document was still allegedly unsigned, as Purisima wanted changes to some parts of the document.

Purisima denied this. In his statement, he said he only received the papers of Hachero in April 2014, along with 264 other case folders. (READ: Napolcom eyes changes in probe on erring cops)

“Each case folder that passes through his office is carefully reviewed and assessed before he finally affixes his signature in his capacity as Napolcom Commissioner,” the PNP said of Purisima.

Purisima said this was to “ensure that each personnel involved in a case is given due process and fair judgment.” (Q and A: Getting rid of the PNP’s scalawags)

Hachero’s case, said Purisima, is part of some 2,000 cases under a special project. Other cases in the project have been unresolved since 2002. According the PNP, between December 2013 and September 2014, Purisima had received up to 1,355 case folders, of which 790 have been signed.

The PNP chief received around 211 case folders monthly, between December 10, 2013 and April 2014.

The PNP and Purisima have been in hot water following several high-profile crimes allegedly involving their own men.

Hachero and Rodriguez are only two of 9 cops tagged in the EDSA kidnapping case. Eight of the 9 are under police custody while 2 more – one dismissed and one in active service – are still at-large.

In press conferences, both Purisima and Interior and Local Government chief Mar Roxas defended the PNP, asking the public not to judge the 150,000-strong police force based on the actions of a few men.

In a speech, President Benigno Aquino III defended Purisima, saying that while there are rogue cops, it’s also the PNP, under Purisima’s command, that has led the pursuit of rogue police officers. – Rappler.com

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Bea Cupin

Bea is a senior multimedia reporter who covers national politics. She's been a journalist since 2011 and has written about Congress, the national police, and the Liberal Party for Rappler.