ONLY 53 out of more than 200 erring policemen due for reassignment to Basilan showed up at Villamor Air Base even as the Philippine National Police hierarchy was contemplating filing new administrative charges against the rogue lawmen.
Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesman, said an Air Force C-130 cargo plane bound for Basilan carrying the 53 policemen left Villamor Air Base at 6:30 a.m. Monday.
The 53 were among those facing administrative offenses for allegedly indulging in illegal acts while on their tour of duty.
Carlos said the other PNP personnel who failed to report at Villamor would be marked Absent Without Official Leave, and separate administrative charges would be meted against the defiant policemen.
“First, they will be marked AWOL, second, they will be charged again for defiance to the lawful order of the Commander-in-Chief,” Carlos said.
Earlier, over 200 policemen facing administrative offenses were confronted by President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacanang and subsequently ordered their reassignment to Basilan as penalties for their involvement in various offenses.
Duterte previously directive the policemen to clean-up the Pasig river but changed his mind and instead had them transferred to Basilan, purportedly to fight the terrorists in the province.
Carlos said the 53 who boarded the Basilan-bound plane were following the order of the command, but those who failed to show up clearly indicated their defiance.
“Definitely, they will have to face another administrative charge,” Carlos said.
“It only shows what kind of stature they have. It’s not a leadership problem. We will investigate who these people are. The kind of character we saw only shows that they are digging their own grave or exit from the service,” Carlos pointed out.
More than 100 police officers were expected to report at Villamor Air Base but for some legitimate circumstances some of them did not show up.
Carlos explained that 40 policemen, upon the review of their cases, were eventually excused as they must attend court hearings.
He said the other policemen had been given 10 days to report, otherwise they would be automatically dropped from the roll of the PNP.
The 53 policemen who already arrived in Basilan would be accorded the normal procedure of PNP administrative process such as filing leaves or breaks for them to reunite with their families in Metro Manila.
Based on the PNP tour of duty process, a police officer has a routine tour of duty of two years, a maximum period for reassignment.
