Isko Moreno, councilmen file complaints against cops

Manila City Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, along with five city councilors, on Tuesday filed separate complaints with the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and the Ombudsman against the police officers who arrested them on Feb. 16 for alleged involvement in illegal gambling.

According to a report by Sandra Aguinaldo on "24 Oras," Moreno’s group filed an administrative complaint with the Napolcom, along with a copy of a video which supposedly proves that there was no illegal gambling involved in the bingo game Moreno and the councilmen conducted.

Meanwhile, the complaint they filed with the Ombudsman alleged robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons, grave coercion, unlawful arrest, perjury, incriminating innocent persons, and arbitrary detention.

In both complaints, only one person was specifically mentioned - Insp. Eduardo Morata.

Morata was allegedly punched several times by Moreno’s running-mate in the May elections, former Pres. Joseph Estrada, who subsequently denied these allegations.

Moreno admitted that one reason Morata was the only one identified in the complaint was because of his allegations against Estrada, who is running for the post of Manila mayor.

Morata for his part said he was only doing his job, and that stopping the bingo game conducted by Moreno and the others was well within the law.

Meanwhile, the Napolcom vowed to be fair in its probe.

“Hihingan namin ng paliwanag sa pamamagitan ng pagsa-submit ng counter-affidavits yung mga respondents,” Napolcom vice chair Ed Escueta said. “[We’ll] try of course to encourage everybody to shorten their arguments, their requests for trial days.”

Moreno and five city councilors — Ernesto Isip Jr., Joel Chua, Ma. Asuncion Fugoso, Yul Servo Nieto, and former councilor Manuel Zarcal — were arrested Saturday for allegedly running an illegal bingo game. They were released early Sunday for lack of evidence.

Meanwhile, Manila mayor Alfredo Lim vowed to support the accused police officers. “Bibigyan ko sila ng abogado at idedepensa sila dahil naniniwala ako tumutupad lang sila sa tungkulin,” he said.

Insp. Ricardo Layug, the chief of the police station to which Morata and the other policemen belong to stressed that politics did not have anything to do with how they did their job.

“Pulis po kami na naglilingkod. Labas po kami kung anuman iyong mayroon ngayon sa politics,” he said. — DVM, GMA News