Sleeping on duty

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

If it is intentional, it becomes a violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act. Sleeping on the job or falling asleep while one is not supposed to, is the basis for termination of employment. Although in most cases, the act is unavoidable as human factors such as tiredness and fatigue come into play.
    While night duty security guards and cops intentionally sleep on duty without getting caught, others try hard to stay awake but accidentally doze off. If they get caught, they are sacked without the benefit of due process.
    Last week, three cops were caught sleeping on duty inside their Lawton PCP in Manila when Police Director Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon made a surprise inspection around his district at 4 in the morning. The three were caught on video camera.
    The police general scolded the three cops after personally waking them up. They were lucky as no administrative or criminal cases were filed against them, but were merely sacked from their posts and transferred to other stations.
    This is not the first time that cops were caught sleeping on duty. In November 2019, eight police officers were caught sleeping while on duty by Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas during the “undas” season.
    They were spotted by teams assigned to hunt down Manila cops not following orders, including the directive to not play golf while on duty.
    A year before that, 14 police officers in community precincts in Pasay and Muntinlupa were sacked from their posts after getting caught sleeping, while others were caught drinking during a surprise inspection. All of them were dismissed from employment.
    While sleeping on duty by ordinary cops could be a violation of a law, it is not as terrible a crime as those committed by their generals. This is what alarms many especially when the police bosses get off the hook even while their alleged criminal acts were very glaring.
    A patrolman receives a monthly base pay of P29,000 with no longevity pay yet while a police Master Sgt gets P44k including longevity pay. The police Exec MSgt takes home 58k with longevity pay, the P/Lt. - 54k, PCol. - P120 plus, PBgen - P136k, and PGen - P225, all with longevity pay. They are highly paid yet they get involved in crimes.   
    We read reports, heard stories of police generals getting off the hook just like recently when the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the graft charges filed against former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde this month.
    His case stemmed from the alleged mishandling of confiscated drugs seized from suspected drug lord Johnson Lee during a sting in Pampanga in 2013.
    The complaint said at least 200 kilos of shabu were confiscated during the sting, but only 36 kilos were declared by the Pampanga police then headed by Albayalde.
    A Senate inquiry in October 2019 recommended that Albayalde and 13 police officers under his command be charged with drug and graft charges in relation to the alleged resale of confiscated narcotics in 2013.
    The complaint for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act was filed against Albayalde by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in 2019. In a 14-page resolution, the Ombudsman dismissed the case for lack of evidence.
    While Albayalde’s participation in the alleged crime was not proven, people wonder where the 164 kilos of shabu went. The case actually is not about Albayalde but about the undeclared 164 kilos of shabu. For sure, someone knows where it went.
    Last October, some 10 personnel of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Group of the PNP were sacked from their posts due to their involvement in the discovery of 990 kilos of shabu found in a raid on a policeman-owned lending company office in Manila.
    The police officers who were the team leaders and immediate supervisors of Police MSgt. Rodolfo Mayo, Jr., a PDEG intelligence operative and the alleged owner of the lending company office, were only temporarily relieved as an investigation continues.
    Following the announcement of the raid, reports revealed the involvement of two more police generals in the seizure of the shabu worth over P6.7 billion. The generals allegedly had links with Mayor who owned the lending company office.
    The bias in the incident is that while the low-ranked policemen were relieved pending an investigation, the generals who were equally suspected of involvement remain free and their names were not disclosed.
    Furthermore, there is a preconceived notion by a colleague in the person of the PNP chief that the generals were innocent but they were being dragged into the case. They were described as officers who worked hard for their careers as if the low-ranked cops who were equally under investigation have no careers.
    In the Philippines, we protect generals who are suspected of involvement in big-time crimes but we sack low-ranked policemen who are found sleeping on duty.