TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija – A dismissed policeman from Cagayan De Oro City was slapped with a string of charges after allegedly threatening a minor with harm in Barangay Esquerra here at about 4:25 a.m. Sunday.
Police identified the suspect as Orlando De Belen, Jr. married, and resident of Fairview, Quezon City.
Police did not specify what exactly the suspect supposedly told the victim in their initial report but said responding policemen themselves “witnessed” suspect “still holding” the victim, a 16-year-old boy inside a convenience store.
When questioned, De Belen reportedly “introduced himself as a PNP (Philippine National Police) member and presently assigned in Cagayan De Oro.”
The lawmen nevertheless invited the suspect to the municipal police station as probers conducted further investigation of the incident.
It turned out the suspect was no longer a member of the PNP as he allegedly had gone absent with official leave since 2021.
Criminal complaints of grave threat in relation to RA 7610 and usurpation of authority were leveled against the suspect before the Nueva Ecija provincial prosecutor’s office, police said.
