ILOILO City – The policeman who disappeared after surviving an ambush in Sitio Pajo, Barangay Dulonan, Arevalo district in June 26, 2018 is in danger of being removed from the service.
Police Officer 1 Dorben Acap has been marked absent without official leave (AWOL).
He was supposed to return to work in November 2018 after having recovered from gunshot wounds he sustained but did not show up at the Police Regional Office 6’s (PRO-6) Regional Headquarters Support Group where he was assigned.
Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, regional police director, said Acap was thus recommended for summary hearing proceedings for grave neglect of duty.
“If he continuously fails to report to work and not attend his summary hearings, we will dismiss him,” said Bulalacao.
Acap actually filed for a leave of absence but for three months only after the ambush.
The PRO-6 sent him several letters ordering him to return to work after his approved leave of absence expired but these were left unanswered.
There were reports that Acap moved to Manila or left the country. The Bureau of Immigration had been asked to verify this, said Bulalacao.
“We are exerting effort to locate him but he seems no longer interested to return to work,” the police director said.
Acap had tagged a fellow policeman as the one who ambushed him – Police Officer 2 Melvin Mocorro, a resident of Negros Occidental but assigned at the Police Regional Office – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Mocorro was arrested June 28 while in hospital confinement. He was charged with trying to kill Acap but managed to post bail.
It was believed he was injured after Acap, though wounded in the ambush, fought back and also fired shots.
Mocorro’s whereabouts were also unknown as of this writing./PN
