By Pearl Gumapos
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar ordered the dismissal from service on June 14 of a staff sergeant for grave misconduct for extorting money from applicants wanting to enter the police force.
Operatives of the PNP’s Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) conducted an entrapment operation in Camarin, Caloocan City last May 31 and apprehended Police Staff Sergeant Joel Zalun Bunagan, assigned to be an ambulance driver.
During the course of the operation, Bunagan demanded P100,000 from an applicant, supposedly in exchange for facilitating his entry into the PNP.
Records show that Bunagan was out on bail at the time of the arrest after he was previously arrested in an entrapment operation for the same offense in April 2020.
“Tuluyan na nating tinanggal sa serbisyo itong si Bunagan. Sinabi ko naman sa inyo na walang puwang sa PNP ang mga pulis na sangkot sa ilegal na gawain,” Eleazar said.
Bunagan is now facing several charges in court for the violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 11032 (Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Act of 2018) and RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).
“Personal ko na tinututukan ang mga kaso ng tiwaling pulis, dahil seryoso ako sa pangakong binitawan ko na linisin at magpatupad ng reporma sa organisasyon,” Eleazar said.
“Hindi ako titigil hangga’t hindi nauubos ang mga tiwaling pulis na ito. Bukod sa mga kriminal na kaso, talagang tutuluyan ko kayong sibakin sa serbisyo,” he added. – jlo