DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 Sep) – The Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 placed under restrictive custody SPO1 Inocentes Talleon for threatening a teacher of Lupon Elementary School in Davao Oriental with a rifle over the result of a taekwondo contest last Friday where his son was defeated.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Casabuena Morales, PRO 11 director, warned on Tuesday that the PNP is serious in its internal cleansing program to get rid of the scalawags and vowed not to tolerate the “wrongdoings or misbehavior of my policemen” towards the public.
Morales said police authorities are supposed to “protect citizens, not to assault citizens.”
“The measures that the PNP is taking to sanction these erring policemen are serious to make sure these things won’t happen again,” he said.
Talleon, who is assigned at the 2nd Davao Oriental Provincial Mobile Force Company, may also face criminal and administrative charges when he confronted and threatened with an M16 rifle school teacher Eva Garcia Carbo over the result of the sports competition, according to Chief Insp. Milgrace Driz, PRO 11 spokesperson.
Driz said the school teacher, also the coach of the taekwondo players, explained the circumstances but the police officer left, refusing to accept her explanation.
She added that Talleon returned a few moments later with a rifle, causing panic and alarm to the students, athletes, facilitators, and visitors during the sports meet.
This prompted the school to call the Banaybanay Municipality Police Station, which immediately responded to disarm the erring cop.
The police was under the influence of liquor, according to Carbo.
Driz said authorities encouraged the complainant and other witnesses to execute their affidavits but added that Carbo will still have to consult her lawyer on the incident.
Morales urged the public to support the internal cleansing program by reporting to PRO 11 their complaints against police officers on similar incidents.
“Every relevant information reported to us will be of great help to the police in responding, resolving, and preventing immediately any incident and security issues,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)