BAGUIO CITY – Residents and citizens alike welcomed with flying colors the return of the city’s devoted and responsible traffic enforcer, SPO3 Alberto C. Tadeo, who was brought back to the Baguio City Police Office – Traffic Management Branch (BCPO-TMB) after over two months of being assigned outside the city for performing his duty as a dedicated traffic officer.
Tadeo started discharging his duties and responsibilities as a senior traffic enforcer during the conduct of the Panagbenga’s grand streetdancing and grand float parades over the weekend after receiving orders from higher authorities for him to report back to BCPO following the dismissal of the charges of breach of internal discipline filed against him by his senior officers for alleged side comments when he apprehended the driver and security escort of Senior Superintendent Gregorio Lim, deputy regional director for administration of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in the Cordillera, for violation of the city’s number coding scheme last December.
Sources revealed the Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS) of the PRO-COR dismissed the breach of internal discipline and misconduct filed against Tadeo by his superior officers for absence of probable cause to warrant the filing of the case against the devoted traffic enforcer.
A few days after apprehending Lim’s driver and security escort, Tadeo was unceremoniously reassigned to Apayao on the ground of the existence of an internal discipline mechanism of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that warrants the outright transfer of a police officer facing charges for alleged breach of internal discipline.
However, after a month of being assigned in Apayao, the PRO-COR leadership ordered Tadeo to be reassigned in Camp Dangwa while awaiting the decision of the RIAS on the case filed against him.
Tadeo’s unceremonious transfer to Apayao and Camp Dangwa elicited negative reactions from city residents who expressed their support to the devoted traffic enforcer because they know that he was just doing his job in apprehending Lim’s driver and security escort for violation of the city’s number coding scheme.
PRO-COR officials received numerous criticisms from city residents and motorists for an obviously tainted decision unceremoniously transferring Tadeo to Apayao without the benefit of conducting the required investigation while allegedly coddling Lim’s driver and security escort amidst their violation of the city’s number coding scheme.
Provisions of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) manual on traffic enforcement provides that a traffic enforcer can issue a verbal or written warning to erring motorists which Tadeo did to Lim’s driver and security escort which was misinterpreted by his superiors as side comments that resulted to his unceremonious relief.
Tadeo expressed optimism that the issue will come to a close and that he will continue performing his duties and responsibilities as a traffic supervisor to help ease the traffic jams in various choke points around the city’s central business district area.
By Dexter A. See
