MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has released the nine cops involved in shooting the four military men in Jolo, Sulu.
PNP chief PBGen. Debold Sinas on Monday (January 11) confirmed that the cops were released following their dismissal from service. Sinas said they cannot detain the cops without any warrant of arrest from the court.
“Sila po ay na-release na kasi walang warrant of arrest na binigay samin. We have coordinated with the DOJ at saka sa lahat hanggang ngayon wala po (They have been released because there is no warrant of arrest. We have coordinated with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and until now there is no warrant),“ he said.
The PNP chief added they do not want to be charged with arbitrary detention for detaining the cops. The nine cops were under restrictive custody at Camp Crame for several months until the dismissal order was implemented.
“So, ayaw po namin na ma charge kami ng arbitrary detention at saka ang pinirmahan ko pong dismissal ay implementable na po iyon (We don’t want to be charged with arbitrary detention and I already signed the dismissal order, it is implementable). We turned them over to their relatives and lawyers,” Sinas said.
The involved policemen shot four members of the military who were tracking two suicide bombers in Jolo, Sulu on June 29. Their vehicle was flagged by police authorities. The police said they Army officers tried to escape which led to a shootout. However, the military refuted the claim.
The DOJ already ordered the indictment of the nine cops after finding probable cause to charge them for four counts of murder. —AAC (with reports from Lea Ylagan)
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