Cebu City mayor suspends allowances of police involved in torture case

Cebu City will be suspending the government-funded allowances of police involved in the torture and extortion of two women in Pasil Police Station 6, Mayor Edgar Labella announced on Wednesday, April 7.

“This is a notice to all the other members of the police force that they should not do this,” Labella said.

“The allegations were heavy, the victims were extorted, there was a carnal advantage. This is unacceptable for police enforcers ,” he added.

In a phone interview on Monday, April 5, Police Major Alejandro Batobalonos, Chief of the Integrity Monitoring and Enhancement Group Visayas Field Unit (IMEG-VFU), told Rappler that two women came out against cops from Pasil Police Station 6 (Sawang Calero Police Station), who are said to have tortured them inside a secret room.

Commission on Human Rights Central Visayas (CHR-7) chief investigator Leo Villarino said that on April 6, the secret room had already become a storage room.

Labella said in a livestreamed press conference he has already instructed City Attorney Rey Galeon to coordinate with the police in conducting an investigation.

According to him, the city normally gives allowances to police – which vary based on the officer’s ranking – but due to this incident, they will be withholding said allowances until the investigation is finished.

“Generally, daghan mga police nga gatarong sa ilahang mga trabaho pero kining mga ingun aning mga scalawags makadaot sa imahe sa mga pulis,” Labella said.

(Generally, there are a lot of police who are doing their jobs properly but these scalawags ruin the image of the police.)

“This is something that should worry us as this is not the first time. We hope these are just isolated cases but we must put this to an end – we will never tolerate this,” he added.

The mayor also mentioned that allowances will only be given back if the cops who were involved in the case are found innocent.

As of this writing, the victims are waiting for the resolution from the prosecutor’s office with regards to the criminal complaints they had filed last week. – Rappler.com