2 cops demoted over illegal arrest, search

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City People’s Law Enforcement Board (QC PLEB) has ordered the demotion of two police officers who were found guilty of grave misconduct for unlawful arrest and search without proper warrants.

Mayor Joy Belmonte announced that Pats. Zaldy Mejos Jr. and Julie Boison received a one-rank demotion following the decision of QC PLEB District 1 over an administrative case filed against them.

“Part of the performance of the duty of our police officers is the responsibility to ensure that all actions are legal so that we do not encroach on the rights of our fellow human beings,” said Belmonte in Filipino.

The case stemmed from the complaint of a resident who claimed that the two police officers searched her house and arrested her without a proper warrant on Jan. 19, 2019.

The police officers denied the allegations and cited the plain view doctrine to justify their action. They said they were on foot patrol in the vicinity when they received a report that the complainant had a gun.

The police officers claimed they noticed the nozzle of a suspected firearm in a black sling bag in the complainant’s neighborhood store, prompting them to enter the house and conduct the search.

The arrest was made after the police supposedly found a gun and illegal drugs inside the house, an allegation denied by the complainant.

In its decision, the QC PLEB sided with the complainant and said that warrantless arrest, search and seizure conducted by the police “cannot be justified under the plain view doctrine, which it said only applies when the discovery of evidence is inadvertent.”

It further ruled that the complainant was “actually, illegally and unlawfully arrested and her residence searched without a warrant.”