Police Regional Office (PRO-7) Regional Director Brigadier General Valeriano de Leon. (PNA file photo)
CEBU CITY -- The relief of three police officials who are under investigation for playing golf during weekdays will serve as a lesson to all members of the police force in the region, Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, chief of Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 (Central Visayas) said on Friday.
Philippine National Police Chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, ordered the relief of Lt. Colonels Dennis Artil, Dennis Bad-ang, and Glenn Mayam after they were reported to have played golf on one occasion during office hours.
Artil was assigned as PRO-7 comptroller, Bad-ang as head of PRO-7’s finance department, and Mayam as chief of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group in the region.
They have been assigned to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit in Camp Crame in Quezon City while their case is being investigated by the PNP.
“That is the basic instruction of the Chief PNP -- not to play golf (during weekdays). Kung ginawa mo yan (if you did that), you will be held responsible. That’s why they have been relieved of their post in order to make it as a warning to the police force in Central Visayas,” de Leon said in a radio interview.
He said he instructed his “command group” to issue a memorandum reminding police personnel assigned to different units in the region to refrain from playing golf during weekdays.
The memo will also include Gamboa’s other policies, he said.
De Leon suspected that Artil, Bad-ang, and Mayam, who “were classmates”, had something to discuss and decided to play golf together. He did not mention which academy the three police officials attended as classmates.
He, however, said Gamboa’s instruction is very clear that playing golf during office hours is prohibited.
“It’s because during weekdays, you are already stealing the time of the office. The instruction of the chief PNP is very clear and there is no room for interpretation,” he said.
He, however, noted that Artil, Bad-ang, and Mayam would be accorded due process before they get penalized.
Gamboa considered the incident as “strike one” against de Leon, while questioning the latter for allowing the three officials to play golf while on duty.
Despite the “strike one” pronouncement, de Leon assured his commitment to cooperate and to abide by the chain of command in the police force.
He urged the public to help him monitor the transgressions of the Central Visayas police force, saying he could not monitor all golf courses here. (PNA)
