IDMB chief, 10 other cops face another complaint

CEBU, Philippines -  Another complaint was filed against Investigation and Detective Management Branch chief George Ylanan before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas.

This is the second complaint filed before the police official within a week after he was charged for arbitrary detention, kidnapping, soliciting or accepting bribe, abuse of authority and conduct unbecoming of a law enforcement officer along with seven other police officers assigned at the Cebu City Police Office earlier this week.

Yesterday, Lyzanne Labiste, an employee of Barangay Guadalupe, who was charged for light threat by the police, filed criminal and administrative cases against the latter before the anti-graft office.

It was PO3 Richard Cyril Valencia who served as complainant of the robbery case against Labiste but the complaint was downgraded by the attending prosecutor to light threat. The case is now pending before the Municipal Trial Court in Cebu City.

Labiste charged Ylanan, together with Insp. Jesus Arong, SPO1 Filomeno Mendaros, PO3 Cesar Pandong, PO3 Richard Cyril Valencia, PO2 Frederick Ybañez, PO2 Jerybel Lerio, PO2 Philip Plasus, PO2 Roy Carlo Veloso, PO1 Micheal Maucesa and PO1 Esmeraldo Quillosa for arbitrary detention and conduct unbecoming of public officials.

Labiste claimed the police detained her without any legal basis from April 29 to May 2, 2011.

On April 30, she added she was supposed to post bail but the police officers brought her to the Palace of Justice almost noontime, so she was not able to post bail and stayed in the lock up sell the whole weekend.

“It was the time that I realized that they are really maliciously set on placing me behind bars as they are filing a case of robbery where the bail is prohibitive but it was lowered to light threats,” Labiste’s complaint reads.

According to her, the act of the police in detaining her shows abuse of power, adding it gave her sleepless nights and had nightmares.

Sought for comment, Mendaros told The FREEMAN they never violated any rule and did not commit arbitrary detention.

The case stemmed when Valencia claimed Labiste extorted money from him for her not to pursue the case of trespassing and pointing a gun at her.

Valencia said Labiste blackmailed him by threatening she would file a complaint if he refused to give her demand.

Valencia and other police operatives were in a hot pursuit operation against a murder suspect when he entered Labiste’s house and allegedly pointed a gun at her. (FREEMAN)