DILG will try to keep nine cops involved in Sulu shooting under police custody

January 2, 2021

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is studying how to keep nine police officers tagged in the shooting that left four Army intelligence officers dead in Jolo, Sulu in June last year in police custody ten days after dismissal notices were given to them.

If there is no arrest warrant against them in ten days, Philippine National Police chief General Debold Sinas said they have to release them.

''That is why we sought the immediate action of DOJ (Department of Justice) to file the appropriate criminal case with the corresponding warrant of arrest,'' said Sinas in a statement Saturday.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano said he will discuss options with Sinas.

“ I am  sure there is a solution there so they can not be released for the moment,” Ano said.

Staff Sergeants Almudzrin Hadjaruddin, Iskandar Susulan and Ernisar Sappal; Patrolman Alkajal Mandangan, Rajiv Putalan and Moh Nur Parsani; Senior Master Sgt. Abdelzhimar Padjiri; Master Sgt. Hanie Baddiri and Corporal Sulki Andaki are under restrictive custody at the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame.

Ano said he will try to find out why no warrant of arrest  was issued against the policemen when the incident took place last June.

“There is really something wrong and that we are going to follow up,” he said.

Ano urged the policemen to face the charges against them instead of becoming fugitives, warning that relatives of the soldiers who died may seek revenge. DMS