A Manila police officer was arrested after he was caught sniffing prohibited drugs at the restroom of a posh bar in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig late Wednesday night.
The suspect was identified as Police Officer 1 Redentor Bautista, 34, assigned at the Manila Police District Police Station 1 and a resident of Herbosa corner Matiisin Streets, Tondo, Manila.
The Taguig City police arrested Bautista around 11:45 pm inside Island Palace Club located at 9th Avenue corner 38th Street BGC Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
Members of the Taguig police community precinct 7 went to the nightclub after the station commander Chief Insp. Joseph Austria received a call from the club security guard Gary Palma who informed them about the suspect’s illegal activity.
Recovered from the suspect was one transparent plastic ziplock containing white substance suspected to be cocaine weighing more or less 0.4 grams and one piece of a small cut straw.
The authorities initially detained Bautista at the PCP 7 in BGC then turned him over to the Station Drug Enforcement Unit where he underwent drug testing.
They said the suspect would be charged for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Southern Police District chief Eliseo Cruz said a report had been sent to the office of the MPD Director about the arrest of Bautista for them to initiate the conduct of an investigation and filing of an administrative case against him.
“The PNP does not tolerate any irregularities of its members and has zero tolerance and no compromise on our personnel involved in illegal drugs. They will suffer the full consequence of their actions and have no reason to stay as members of our organization,” Cruz said.
Meanwhile, National Capital Region Police Office chief Guillermo Eleazar assured the dismissal of erring policemen after undergoing due process.
“No sacred cows to this people who are using drugs and to those who are selling, especially the uniformed personnel,” he said.
Eleazar said the PNP was serious in its internal cleansing program and continuously conducting intelligence operations to weed out the scalawags and rogue personnel.
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