PNP: 11 cops for dismissal due to Pogo moonlighting

MANILA, Philippines — The Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the Philippine National Police said it has recommended the dismissal of 11 police personnel, including five officers, from the service, over allegations of illegally deploying police as security escorts of a Chinese national involved in online gambling operations.

Two police commandos who were earlier identified as Police Cpl. George Rojo Mabuti and Patrolman Roger Ramos Valdez from the PNP’s Special Action Force (SAF) were arrested in May after they figured in a scuffle at a posh village in Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City.

READ: DILG chief warns cops moonlighting as escorts for Pogo execs

Investigation later showed the two were assigned in Zamboanga City but were moonlighting as personal bodyguards of a Chinese national linked to a Pogo (Philippine offshore gaming operators) enterprise.

The recommendation of dismissal is still subject to the approval of PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil.

The IAS, the PNP unit tasked to investigate misconduct among police, said on Tuesday it found evidence that there was “a conspiracy among certain SAF officials in Zamboanga City to cover up the illegal activities of the policemen in Ayala Alabang, making it appear that the two SAF commandos were physically present at their assigned units—the 52nd Special Action Company Zamboanga and the 55th Special Action Company Zamboanga, respectively—when, in fact, they were not.”

The IAS said the involved SAF officials, which included the superiors of Mabuti and Valdez, were found guilty of grave misconduct, grave dishonesty, and conduct unbecoming “for attempting to cover up the unauthorized moonlighting activities of their personnel.”