By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – The Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) on Monday relieved three HPG personnel for unauthorized use of the EDSA busway and allegedly ordered the traffic enforcers to stop the operations.
PNP-HPG spokesperson Lt. Nadame Malang confirmed this in a media phone interview but withheld the HPG personnel’s identity and ranks pending the results of the ongoing investigation and the possible filing of administrative charges.
In an earlier media interview at Camp Crame, Malang said HPG director Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta had ordered a thorough investigation on the incident.
“Sinisigurado ng pamunuan ng HPG sa pangunguna ng ating butihing director no other than Brig. Gen. Eleazar Matta hindi yan nagtotolerate ng mga ganitong pagkakataon (The HPG leadership under director Brig. Gen. Eleazar Mata that he will not tolerate this kind of incident),” he said.
In a separate statement, the PNP-HPG clarified that PNP Chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil had nothing to do with the incident.
“It is imperative to clarify that the name of PNP Chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil has been unjustly associated with this matter,” the PNP-HPG statement read.
In a viral video, a PNP-HPG personnel was heard claiming that the PNP chief requested that the operations be suspended because it started to create traffic.
The PNP-HPG said the police has no intention of undermining the Department of Transportation’s Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation’s (SAICT) mandate or dictating its operatives’ actions.
“The PNP-HPG remains firmly committed to upholding the highest standards in the performance of its duties and responsibilities. This incident is both unfortunate and isolated, and we are implementing stringent measures to ensure that such occurrences do not happen again in the future,” it said.
“The PNP-HPG will not tolerate any actions that compromise the integrity of our institution or its leadership.”
The incident happened at around 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 7 along the Ortigas Northbound Flyover, EDSA Busway, according to the SAICT report.
The SAICT report said two vehicles and two police escorts riding in two HPG motorcycles have been flagged down for violating the rule on the use of EDSA busway.
It added a police officer “reacted aggressively and verbally confronted” the SAICT enforcer during the issuance of the ticket. (PNA)
