6 cops in Failon case suspended

MANILA, Philippines – Six Quezon City policemen were suspended on Monday over the “illegal" arrests of several people in connection with the death of the wife of broadcaster Ted Failon last April. Ordered suspended for six months by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) were Superintendent Franklin Mabanag, Chief Superintendent Gerardo Ratuita, Chief Inspector Cherry Lou Donato, Chief Inspector Enrico Figueroa, Senior Inspector Roberto Razon Sr., and Inspector Erlinda Garcia In its 22-page decision, Napolcom also relieved Mabanag as head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD). Failon’s wife, Trinidad Etong, was found with a gunshot wound to her head in the bathroom of their Quezon City home last April 15. She was rushed to the New Era General Hospital where she died the next day. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had ruled her death as a suicide. The six sanctioned cops were among the nine policemen who were accused of committing various abuses when they arrested Failon’s sister-in-law, Pamela Arteche, and his house helpers for alleged obstruction of justice last April 16 at the New Era General Hospital for alleged obstruction of justice. Three other police officers – Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo, SPO2 Jerry Abada and PO2 Joycelyn Marcelo – were exonerated of the charges for insufficiency of evidence. Napolcom, however, cleared Mabanag and his men from accusations that they used excessive force during the arrests, saying the show of physical force was necessary since a commotion had already erupted inside the hospital where the arrests were made. The decision said Mabanag and his group failed to substantiate their claim that those arrested were properly read their rights as required under the Miranda Doctrine. It also said that the warrantless arrests were made without legal basis, and that allegations of obstruction of justice could not be justified since it happened on the day Etong shot herself while the arrests were made the next day. “Clearly, there is no obstruction of justice. Ergo, the warrantless arrests were illegal," the Napolcom ruling said. The policemen had charged Failon's househelps with obstruction of justice after they admitted cleaning the bathroom where Mrs. Etong's body was found, and the vehicle that was used in bringing her to the hospital. Arteche was named co-accused because she refused to have her sister undergo paraffin test. - GMANews.TV