GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Police authorities in Region 12 are seeking the dismissal from service of a police officer and several other personnel tagged in the mauling a security guard at a bar in Koronadal City last week.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, Police Regional Office (PRO) director, said Wednesday they recommended the conduct of summary dismissal proceedings against Chief Insp. Armando Galigo Jr., and three other erring police personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory/Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) and the Highway Patrol Group in Region 12.
Galigo, chief of the South Cotabato Soco unit, and Police Officers 3 Edmund delos Reyes, Joven Sumugod and Reymart Lustro are accused of mauling security guard Randyl Almacin at the entrance of Mc Grille Bar in Koronadal City early on Feb. 2.
The incident, which was recorded by the establishment’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera, happened after Almacin asked the policemen to deposit their firearms before entering the bar.
The CCTV footage showed Delos Reyes, who was assigned at the Soco unit, punching the security guard several times in the presence of the visibly angry Galigo.
Police investigators said Galigo’s group, who were all in civilian clothes, also included Sumugod and Lustro of the HPG-South Cotabato.
Morales said the involved policemen have already been relieved from their assignments and currently undergoing investigation at the regional Crime Laboratory/SOCO and HPG headquarters.
The erring policemen are under the operational control of the PRO-12, but not administratively.
The police official said they expect that the summary dismissal proceedings will speed up the hearing of the cases.
“The CCTV footage clearly showed the violations committed by these policemen. So they will be dealt with accordingly,” the police official said in an interview over a local television station.
Aside from administrative cases, the involved policemen are facing physical injury, grave threat and grave oral defamation charges from the security guard. (AMS/PNA)
