Cops in Jolo slay turned over to relatives

MANILA, Philippines — Nine police officers involved in the fatal shooting of four Army intelligence officers in Jolo last year have been turned over to their families as no arrest warrants have been issued against them, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.

PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas said they have no legal basis to detain the nine as they had already been dismissed from the service.

“We don’t want to be charged with arbitrary detention and the dismissal order that I signed is ready for implementation. We turned them over to their relatives and lawyers last week,” Sinas told journalists yesterday.

Six of the officers – Senior M/Sgt. Abdelzhimar Padjiri, M/Sgt. Hannie Baddiri, S/Sgts. Iskandar Susulan and Eniskar Sappal, Cpl. Sulki Andaki and Pat. Moh Nur Pasani – were former members of the Jolo municipal police.

The others – S/Sgt. Almudzrin Hadjaruddin, Pat. Alkajal Mandangan and Rajiv Putalan – were from the Sulu police Drug Enforcement Unit.

The officers were tagged in the murder of four Army intelligence agents, who were gathering information about a terrorist plan to stage attacks in Barangay Mauboh, Patikul.

Police claimed the Army officers engaged the nine in a shootout that resulted in their death.

The military denounced the incident, saying it was murder.