NCRPO sacks 31 cops over alleged irregularities in arrest of 2 Chinese
Philippine National Police. Inquirer File Photo
Updated April 4, 2025, 2:33 p.m.
MANILA, Philippines — Thirty-one Eastern Police District (EPD) personnel were relieved from their posts after alleged anomalies during the arrest of two Chinese individuals.
This was according to National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Maj. Gen. Anthony Aberin in a phone interview with reporters in Camp Crame on Friday.
The personnel were from the EPD District Special Operations Unit (DSOU).
“All the personnel of the DSOU of the Eastern Police District, 31 personnel of the DSOU were relieved… I included the senior officers in the administrative investigation by virtue of command responsibility,” Aberin said
Of the 31 relieved, eight were placed under restrictive custody, according to a special order from the EPD District Personnel Records and Management Division obtained by INQUIRER.net on Friday.
Four of the officers placed under custody were staff sergeants, two were corporals, and two were patrolmen.
The report alleged that EPD District Special Operations Unit (DSOU) operatives stole cash and valuables from a certain Jie Li and a certain Wang Feng Tao during their arrest in Las Piñas City on Wednesday and claimed the items were a bribe from the foreigners.
“[The Philippine National Police (PNP) chief of the directorial staff] advised [the EPD district director] to return the money and gadgets to the victims. However, operatives refused to return the money and will file [a] bribery case as their leverage,” it further detailed.
Inquest proceedings
The report said the EPD DSOU operatives brought one of the arrested Chinese to the Las Piñas City Police Station for inquest proceedings for bribery on Thursday.
However, the report added, “[The chief of police of] Las Piñas is baffled. The inquest for bribery should have been made [on Wednesday] and directly endorsed to his station after [the] arrest if there was bribery.”
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The report further said the operatives were previously involved in a series of robbery-extortion activities in Mandaluyong City and were consequently relieved from the city police station, being reassigned to the EPD district headquarters.
However, the relieved operatives regrouped in the EPD DSOU and allegedly continued their illegal activities, the report added.
For its part, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Maj. Gen. Anthony Aberin ordered an investigation into the incident, adding in a statement on Thursday that the operatives’ firearms were immediately recovered.
“After the investigation and if evidence will warrant, I will make sure that they will be dismissed from the service and they will rot in jail for their criminal conduct. NCRPO is no place for police scalawags,” Aberin added.
Arrest warrants
According to the report, the EPD DSOU served the arrest warrants against Jie and Wang in Portofino Heights, Barangay Almanza Dos in Las Piñas City on Wednesday.
The warrants were supposedly for violation of the Firearms and Ammunitions Regulation Act.
However, during the arrest, the DSOU operatives opened the residence’s vault and carted out P27 million, US$430,000 (roughly P24 million) and 110,000 Malaysian ringgit (roughly P1.4 million) in cash; luxury bags, watches, jewelry, gold bars and smartphones, the report said.
Further, according to the police investigation report, the Chinese individuals alleged that the residence’s closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras were turned off when DSOU personnel entered the premises.
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Moreover, the report said personnel did not wear body-worn cameras, were not led by a police commissioned officer, and failed to provide a sketch or spot report as of Thursday morning.
Police investigation
It added that the DSOU operatives did not coordinate with the Las Piñas City Police Station nor did they inform or have the approval of the EPD district director.
The operatives also allegedly left a cellphone number to the wife of the one of the arrested Chinese, instructing her to call them if they want to negotiate for the subject’s release.
The report did not specify the number of DSOU personnel involved but did state that most of them had the rank of patrolman.
Cash worth P12 million was recovered from the operatives at an unspecified time, the report said.
“[The] operatives’ alibi was that the 12 million recovered from them was a bribe given by the Chinese they arrested. They only declared it when [chief of the directorial staff] followed up [with the EPD district director] about the incident,” the report detailed.
It added that the rest of the items retrieved from the residence have yet to be recovered.
