Fidel Ramos approves dismissal proceedings<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): President Fidel Ramos yesterday approved the
\nconduct of summary proceedings that could lead to the dismissal
\nof three police generals and a colonel implicated in the
\ncontroversial killing of 11 suspected bank robbers.<\/p>\n
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, director general
\nRecaredo Sarmiento, wrote Ramos on Saturday seeking clearance to
\ninitiate \"summary dismissal proceedings\" against the four senior
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
The presidential palace released copies of Sarmiento's letter
\nwith a marginal note bearing Ramos' signature and approval of the
\nrequest, the officers being political appointees.<\/p>\n
Two low-ranking police investigators have alleged in
\ntestimonies before a senate committee probing the May 18 incident
\nthat the four officers planned the murder of the 11 men and
\nattempted to cover it up by making it appear that they were bank
\nrobbers slain in a shootout.<\/p>\n
A separate PNP committee also recommended the filing of
\ncriminal charges against the four along with several other police
\nofficers involved in the alleged killings.<\/p>\n
The four have denied the charges and resigned from their
\nposts. Some of them snubbed the senate hearing, saying they
\npreferred to answer the charges after they are formally filed in
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
The officers include chief superintendents Jewel Canson, chief
\nof police forces in the capital, Romeo Acop, commander of the
\nCriminal Investigation Service, Panfilo Lacson, head of a task
\nforce under anti-crime chief Vice President Joseph Estrada.<\/p>\n
The alleged killings have raised protests from human rights
\ngroups and the media on illegal police methods under the
\ncountry's democratic system.<\/p>\n
Estrada has also been criticized for saying that the suspects
\n\"deserved to die.\"<\/p>\n
But on Saturday, the embattled officers found an ally in two
\ncitizen's crime watch groups composed of the relatives of victims
\nof kidnappings and killings by criminal gangs.<\/p>\n
The groups attested to the integrity of Canson and Lacson and
\nclaimed they were being framed by crime syndicates in a bid to
\noust them from their posts. They praised the two for their
\neffective work against gangs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fidel-ramos-approves-dismissal-proceedings-1447893297",
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