ILOILO City – A policeman recently tagged in the killing of businessman Delfin Britanico was ordered dismissed from the service by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) in 2019 yet for grave misconduct.
But according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), they have not received such Napolcom order.
In 2017, Napolcom’s en banc came up with an adverse ruling against Police Staff Sergeant Ricardo Morante of the Iloilo City Police Office Station 1.
Morante filed a motion for reconsideration but it was denied, according to Director Joseph Celiz of Napolcom Region 6.
In 2019, the Napolcom en banc issued a certificate of finality for Morante’s dismissal.
The complainant in this administrative case was a certain Chris Villaruel, said Celiz.
“We have not received any dismissal order against Morante from the higher command,” Malong told Panay News.
Morante, with three other policemen – Police Staff Sergeant Michael Demigillo de Felipe assigned at the La Paz Police Station; Police Staff Sergeant Freddie Libo-on of Dumangas, Iloilo police station; and Police Master Sergeant Vernie Lui Escorial of the Iloilo City Police Station (ICPO) – were tagged in the death of Delfin Britanico last year at the Iloilo River Boulevard, Barangay Nabitasan, La Paz Iloilo City.
They were identified by a fellow policeman who sought to be a state witness, Police Corporal Joseph Andrew Joven who was earlier identified by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as the driver of the Mitsubishi Adventure used in the killing.
Joven tagged Morante and Escorial as the ones who shot dead Delfin, son of former congressman Salvador “Buddy” Britanico, in a sworn statement attached to his application to be a state witness filed with the Office of the Prosecutor General in the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Ermita, Manila on Dec. 15, 2020.
Joven also named de Felipe and Libo-on as his companions inside the Mitsubishi Adventure.
The other day, Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, PRO-6 director, relieved de Felipe, Libo-on, Escorial and Morante from their posts.
While investigation for their administrative cases is ongoing, they are to stay at the PRO-6’s Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit in Camp Delgado here./PN
