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MANDAUE CITY, Philippines - Four Mandaue City policemen have been ordered to explain by Tuesday why police station 4 was apparently closed Saturday dawn when a robbery victim came looking for help.
“I am giving them 24 hours to explain what happened,” said Inspector Abraham Ocampo, chief of the police station. “We will not tolerate that act if it is true.”
Ocampo said he would also talk with robbery victim Joel Batiancila to make sure that the details of his story were accurate.
Ocampo said it was highly unlikely the police station was closed and that Batiancila may have gone to the wrong building.
Batiancila, 21, told Cebu Daily News last Sunday that he was robbed by three motorcycle-riding men around 1:30 p.m. Saturday night. With the help of a tricycle driver, he went to police station 4 in the Casuntingan barangay (village) hall, only to find the station close, its lights off.
“It’s unbelievable that the lights were off because the station is always lighted,” Ocampo said Monday.
“Besides, if the station was really closed, Batiancila should have come back in the morning to (report) the incident,” he added.
Ocampo said police station 4 normally does not close its doors either. He said the station keeps its doors “half-closed” or slightly ajar as a security measure, but not locked.
The policemen on duty at that time were desk officer Ariel Peres and police officers Gerry Casconia, Sandre Torres and Renato Berdon.
Batiancila, in an interview on Sunday, said he was sure he arrived at police station 4 because he had been there before.
Batiancila said he was at the corner of Luran Road and M. L. Quezon Avenue in Barangay Cabancalan when a motorcycle rammed him, hitting his leg.
The three men on board the motorcycle took his phone and money.
With a swollen leg, Batiancila went to police station 4, but it was seemingly locked and unmanned.
Senior Superintendent Rodel Calungsud, Mandaue City police director, has ordered an investigation into the incident.
He said the policemen on duty may have been sleeping inside the station.
The official said he would wait for Ocampo to submit the explanation of his men before taking action. /With a report by Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan
