ILOILO City – One of the two Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) personnel being investigated for alleged involvement in illegal drugs has been marked AWOL or absent without official leave.
The Police Corporal assigned at the municipal police station of Candoni, Negros Occidental snubbed a confirmatory test ordered by PRO-6 chief Police Brigadier General Rolando Miranda.
According to Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, the policeman likewise failed to report to his new assignment at the PRO-6’s Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (RPHAU) following his relief December last year.
“We are clueless on the whereabouts of this Police Corporal. He did not communicate to the PRO-6 to contest the result of his drug test. He also failed to explain his side as a part of the due process,” Malong explained.
The now AWOL cop was found using methamphetamine hydrochloride, more commonly known as shabu, on Dec. 5, 2020.
The Regional Personnel and Human Records Management had since launched a pre-charge investigation for his administrative case. He will be facing dismissal for grave misconduct, Malong said.
“He was given enough time to contest the result of his first drug test,” Malong pointed out.
Another policeman with the rank of Master Sergeant was also tested positive for drug use on Jan. 28 this year.
Assigned at the police station of Cauayan in Negros Occidental, the policeman reported to the RPHAU after receiving a relief order.
He underwent a confirmatory test and explained he had maintenance medicines for an illness.
The result of his confirmatory test has yet to be released.
For his part, Miranda vowed to sustain the intensified internal cleansing at the PRO-6.
“Drug-user cops have no space in PRO-6. We don’t need erring and corrupt personnel,” Miranda stressed./PN
