The past week saw the hyperactive leadership of Catanduanes Police Provincial Director PCol. Edward D. Quijano hold a shooting competition among police officers at Camp Francisco Camacho on Dec. 6, 2024.
Three days earlier, on Dec. 3, it welcomed cybercrime lawyer Antonio Jimeno Jr. as well as DICT Provincial Officer Mario John Gonzales for a seminar on “Cybercrime: Effective Reputation Management Techniques.”
Cyberattacks place organizations, government or private alike, at constant risk of suffering damage to their reputation due to data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents.
Unfortunately for the camp named after a Medal of Valor awardee, the present stain on its reputation came not from cybercriminals breaching its data base but from some allegedly unscrupulous officers who are either masterminds or, as they claim, victims of an investment scam.
To the credit of PNP Bicol Regional Director PBGen. Andre Perez Dizon and PD Quijano, the police acted swiftly on the complaint filed by two public school teachers and relieved the involved law enforcers from their posts pending an investigation by the Internal Affairs Office.
The issue, however, took a turn for the worse when the complainants reached a deal with the police officers and a civilian even after the former vowed to bring the matter to court.
For P275,000 paid thru Gcash, Maya and outright cash to three complainants, the men accused of playing a big role in the Easy Agent Operation (EAO) scheme now have peace of mind.
Under the settlement, the aggrieved parties would no longer pursue the complaint against any of the trio in relation to the investment, transactions, and recruitment made under EAO.
But not so fast, for they are still liable administratively with the PNP Internal Affairs Service conducting a probe of their involvement in the scam that also victimized around 65 fellow police personnel.
No less than RD Perez reportedly cited the preponderance of clear evidence in the involvement of the two officers of the Catanduanes 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company in the EAO scam.
The IAS probe is bolstered by the recent ruling of the Supreme Court that using online chat logs and videos as evidence does not violate the right to privacy if they are used to determine if a crime has been committed.
In the decision of the SC’s Second Division, Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez upheld the accused’s conviction on human trafficking, rejecting the latter’s arguments that the videos and chat logs he made with an undercover police officer were inadmissible for violating his privacy rights.
Republic Act No. 10173, or the Data Privacy Act of 2012, allows the processing of sensitive personal information to determine a person’s criminal liability and to protect the rights and interests of persons in court proceedings.
During the confrontation between the EAO scam complainants and the concerned police officers at Camp Camacho, the former presented screen shots of messages as well as photos taken during the so-called Team Gatherings presided over by the two officers of the Catanduanes 1st Police Mobile Force Company.
Whether the screen shots and the photos have been deleted by the complainants as part of the compromise settlement signed last week in exchange for P275,000 from the two law enforcers is of no moment.
One of the complainants has already deleted photos and screenshots sent to several individuals at the time there was still no negotiations between the victimized investors and the alleged masterminds.
It can be assumed that the IAS can gather enough pieces of incriminating evidence from the other victims, particularly the 60 police officers who were conned in to investing money into the Walmart EAO scheme that went bust.
Considering that the scam victimized members of the public that it has sworn to serve and protect, it is incumbent upon RD Perez and PD Quijano to ensure that the IAS probe leads to the filing of charges against those responsible for the damage wrought on the local police’s reputation.