ILOILO City – Criminal charges will be filed against a police officer caught in an illegal cock derby in Barangay Torocadan, San Joaquin, Iloilo on April 4.
Police Staff Sergeant Jose Decabo-on, 43, of Barangay Nam-o Norte, Miag-ao, Iloilo was assigned in the Police Regional Office 6’s (PRO-6) Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (RPHAU).
He was detained in the lockup cell of the San Joaquin police station with four other companions.
Decabo-on was apprehended around 12:30 p.m. at an improvised cockpit in the barangay.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, spokesperson of the PRO-6, said this was already his second offense in relation to Presidential Decree (PD) 449, or the Cockfighting Law of 1974.
He was previously charged with an administrative case for “grave neglect of duty” and was given a one-month suspension from Jan. 1 to 31, 2021.
“This is very unfortunate,” Malong said. “One of our police officers was caught violating the order of the national headquarters.”
Malong added that Decabo-on will face another administrative case, aside from his criminal case, for his violation of PD 449.
He was also suspended from March 1 to 31 this year for “grave neglect of duty” and “conduct unbecoming of an officer” after he was caught transporting liquor amid the enhanced community quarantine period on May 20, 2020.
He was caught with 60 boxes of liquor at a checkpoint in Barangay Nanga, Guimbal, Iloilo, and was arrested after failing to present a travel pass and an Inter-Agency Task Force sticker./PN
