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MANILA— The Philippine National Police have fired nine of their officers identified in the shooting deaths of 4 soldiers at a checkpoint in Sulu last year, an incident that opened a wedge between the police and the military.
PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas said the 9 officers have been released from custody as they face criminal charges, with outstanding arrest warrants. He urged the Justice Department to speed up the processing of the case.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana welcomed the move and said he hopes both the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will learn from the incident.
“In the future, we hope that the AFP and the PNP will learn from this incident and take concrete steps to prevent such things from happening in the future,” Lorenzana said.
The shooting occurred at a checkpoint near a police station on June 29, 2020, when a group of soldiers chased after 2 suicide bombers who were later identified as responsible for the twin explosions in the city of Jolo.
Police previously alleged that the soldiers, who were not wearing their uniform and were in a sport utility vehicle, had sped past the checkpoint and pointed their guns at them, sparking the clash.
Meanwhile, the Philippine army called the shooting incident a “murder” as its soldiers identified themselves at the checkpoint and complied with the police request to stop by the police station.
The National Bureau of Investigation found in its investigation that all the bullet casings were from police firearms.
In July, the NBI filed murder and evidence charges against the 9 police officers. In September, the PNP Internal Affairs Service also filed administrative cases against 3 senior Sulu police officers for the incident.
Meanwhile, Lorenzana was also synthesized with the families of the fired police officers.
“Their families are as much victims of the incident as the families
of the soldiers who died, ”Lorenzana said.
– report by Aleta Nieva Nishimori, ABS-CBN News
Defense chief, Delfin Lorenzana, Jolo soldiers slaughter, PNP, AFP, Jolo shooting incident, PNP fires 9 policemen Sulu soldiers
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