44 cadets face admin raps over PNP Academy mauling incident

The board of inquiry formed to investigate the mauling incident in the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) on Wednesday said that 44 cadets have been charged with administrative cases for their alleged involvement in beating up six new graduates of Maragtas Class of 2018.

Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) Inspectorate and Legal Office chief lawyer Jayson Ison, who is the designated vice chairman of the board, said that 20 underclassmen were charged with grave misconduct while 24 others were charged with neglect of duty.

Ison said that PNPA officials used the cadet Honor Code system to determine the identities of those involved in the incident.

"Kasi yung identification kaya masyadong marami yung number kasi kung makikita mo 44, kung 'yun ay involved sa mauling baka lamog na yung tao, so yung proseso...they used the cadet honor system," Ison said in a phone interview with GMA News Online.

"So they volunteered, ang tanong don ng officials is who were present so lahat nung present [ay yung 44], so nagvolunteer sila and they conducted an investigation, nalaman yung degree of participation kung ano yung ginawa nila," he added.

Charged with grave misconduct are:

1. Cadet 2nd Class Clint John Cabbigat Baguidudol;
2. Cadet 2nd Class Jem Camcam Peralta;
3. Cadet 2nd Class Neil Ian Llanto Calamba;
4. Cadet 2nd Class Mark Renly De Guzman Delos Santos;
5. Cadet 2nd Class Christian Ken Carias Coplat;
6. Cadet 2nd Class Ali-Adam Bili Amanon;
7. Cadet 2nd Class Loreto Aquino Tuliao Jr.;
8. Cadet 2nd Class Paul Christopher De Guzman Macalalad;
9. Cadet 2nd Class Donald Lamirez Kissing;
10. Cadet 2nd Class Renato De Guzman Niturada;
11. Cadet 2nd Class Edmar Jade Macayanan Diazen;
12. Cadet 2nd Class Claybourne John Ramil Albento Labastida;
13. Cadet 2nd Class Alejandro Espolong Abonita;
14. Cadet 2nd Class Melchor Rio Medes;
15. Cadet 2nd Class John Mark Gomez Singun;
16. Cadet 2nd Class Albert Kenneth Subrado Abao;
17. Cadet 2nd Class Bryan Kevin Mansing Temprosa;
18. Cadet 2nd Class Joshua Saguid Castillo;
19. Cadet 2nd Class Carljobel Perez Lofranco; and
20. Cadet 3rd Class (2020) Ronwaldo Intapan Cariño

The cadets on the list are part of the 211-strong PNPA Class of 2019 except for Cariño. Ison said that those who were charged with grave misconduct may have direct participation on the mauling incident.

Nine underclassmen — Kissing, Delos Santos, Peralta, Baguidodol, Macalalad, Tuliao, Calamba, Coplat and Amanon — are already facing a case pf physical injury filed by the new graduates, Police Inspectors Ylam Lambenecio and Arjay Divino.

"Yung specifics, witnesses accounts ang ginamit doon yung iba, nakita nila yung pinapalo nga, napapalo yung newly-graduates so yung mga pumalo na 'yon and then siguro yung ibang nagbuhat 'yun ang kinasuhan ng grave misconduct so 20 sila," Ison said.

Meanwhile, the following cadets were charged with neglect of duty:

1. Cadet 2nd Class Richard Ryan Barsaga Molato;
2. Cadet 2nd Class Janzel-Rudolph Fegi Desumala;
3. Cadet 2nd Class June Vaquilar Rivera;
4. Cadet 2nd Class Mario Bacquian Dacillo;
5. Cadet 2nd Class Christian Lyle Dillona Visario;
6. Cadet 2nd Class Ryan Jay Vigilia Esquivel;
7. Cadet 2nd Class Jessie Leonard Ramos Dy;
8. Cadet 2nd Class Bonifacio Palonga Manganip, Jr.;
9. Cadet 2nd Class John Ray Climaco Mejores;
10. Cadet 2nd Class Asraf Saripada Grar;
11. Cadet 2nd Class Ueniel Alden Salon;
12. Cadet 2nd Class Klyde Jan Orbista Batilo;
13. Cadet 2nd Class Rotsen Joshua Tupasi Segismundo;
14. Cadet 2nd Class Jhobert Villahermosa Torrecampo;
15. Cadet 2nd Class Kenneth Alimanza Puig;
16. Cadet 2nd Class Bryan Tambalian Melad;
17. Cadet 2nd Class Mark Pistol Tuano Torrecampo;
18. Cadet 2nd Class Roy Quinanola Hualde;
19. Cadet 2nd Class Pierre Jamil Buhalon Datong;
20. Cadet 2nd Class Rexie Cabrido Tapulao;
21. Cadet 2nd Class Jerwin Intong Badian;
22. Cadet 2nd Class Ivan Rholan Galapon Canoy;
23. Cadet 2nd Class Lino Tryss Dacudao Galvan III; and
24. Cadet 2nd Class Gomer Pasco Sacala Jr.

"Ito naman nanggaling ito for failure to stop the commotion or to prevent it from happening kasi duty ng cadet din to maintain the order sa area nila, so yung failure nila to maintain yung order, 'yun ang basehan ng kanilang case for neglect of duty," Ison said.

National Police College director Romeo Magsalos, who is the chairman of the board of inquiry, earlier said a small group of misguided cadets “threatened” underclassmen that they will be “inflicted with harm” if they will not follow them.

The board of inquiry also found that there was a “failure to effect arrest and cause inquest proceeding of the perpetrator.”

New inspectors who did not file a complaint, the board said, have a “tendency to accept the harm inflicted by the underclass.”

“Two of them are forgiving because yung iba hindi na nagfile ng kaso except na yung dalawa na talagang they pursued a case,” Magsalos told reporters in an interview.

Probers also found that there is a lack of uniformed personnel who will “closely supervise” the activities of the cadets, adding that security guards deployed were “prohibited to access the dormitories.”

As a result of the investigation, the board made the following recommendations in order to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident:

• All activities of the corps of cadets should be sanctioned by the duly constituted authorities of the PNPA and should be closely supervised by the Cadet Affairs Office (CAO). In no instance shall any "secret rituals" involving cadets be conducted;
• As a deterrence to misconduct, neglect and undesirable behavior, the PNPA should actively prosecute offenses amounting to criminal acts before the regular courts;
• To strengthen the espirit de corps among the cadets;
• Increase the capacity of the PNPA to closely monitor cadet activities; and
• Seek the intervention of the Secretary of the DILG for the implementation of the policy where deployment to training units under the PPSC is considered as a Table of Organization position.

Six new PNPA graduates were beaten up by their underclassmen right after their graduation rites on March 21. The incident occurred between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. when the upperclassmen were going back to their barracks after the graduation rites.

The underclassmen used rattan sticks and rocks when they mauled the newly-commissioned officers who suffered injuries.

In a police report from Silang Municipal Police Station, the victims were identified as Police Inspectors Lambenecio, Divino, Mark Kevin Villares, Floyd Traqueña, Jan Paul Magmoyao and Jail Inspector Arjay Marcaida Cuasay.

Based on PNPA's initial investigation, PNPA director Chief Superintendent Joseph Adnol said that the underclassmen may have wanted to "get even" with the upperclassmen.

The 44 cadets who are involved in the mauling incident are currently confined within the academy as part of their sanction.

“For the meantime confined to barracks sila, confined to dorm. In fact nung bakasyon supposedly the cadets were out, sila nandon lang muna,” Magsalos said. —JST, GMA News