Palace welcomes relief of police chief over ‘secret jail’

MANILA—Malacañang on Friday lauded the relief of the chief of a Manila police station found to have a ‘secret detention cell’ where arrested suspects are illegally detained.

“We commend Police Director Oscar Albayalde, Regional Director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for acting decisively, and ordering the administrative relief of the Manila Police District Station Commander 1 and directing the Regional Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to conduct an investigation,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

Superintendent Roberto Domingo was relieved a day after a Commission of Human Rights (CHR) team found around 12 men and women locked up inside a “secret jail” hidden behind a bookshelf inside Police Station 1 in Tondo, Manila.

Albayalde said Domingo will be investigated by the IAS, the PNP’s mechanism for investigating irregularities by their own men and women.

In the meantime, Abella said Malacañang will withhold further comments pending the results of the investigation.

“The report of the investigation will be forthcoming, and only then do we release further comment on the matter,” Abella said.