The public perceives a laxity in the screening of applicants for employment with the Provincial Security Force (PSF) after one of its personnel who was recently arrested in a drug sting operation is found to have been previously convicted of drug charges after availing of a plea bargain.
Netizens and listeners of Station dyRD’s top-rated Inyong Alagad aired their concerns how an ex-convict passed in the screening process for security personnel of the provincial government.
It may be recalled that on Sunday, a member of the PSF identified as Joey Lorete alias “Bodoy,” 29 years old, a resident of Purok 1, Barangay Lourdes, Panglao, was nabbed by operatives of the Tagbilaran City Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) after selling shabu worth P500 to an undercover policeman.
Lorete was even found wearing his PSF identification card at the time of his arrest. A subsequent body-search on the suspect resulted in the retrieval of the P500 marked money and another six (6) small cellophane sachets containing shabu, weighing approximately 10-grams with a Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) value of P68,000.
In an interview with Inyong Alagad on Wednesday, retired police Col. Sancho Bernales, security consultant of the Capitol and head of the screening committee for PSF applicants, admitted the screening process failed to uncover the fact that Lorete had a derogatory record.
Lorete was previously arrested and jailed for a drug case but was released on plea bargain which has the effect of a conviction.
Lorete purportedly left his station at the Governor’s Mansion without permission, according to Bernales, who was surprised to learn of the former’s arrest.
Bernales, a former chief of the Bohol Police Provincial Office, said there is a policy that applicants for the security force who are involved in illegal drugs will not be accepted.
Lorete was employed with the PSF only in September this year even without securing a PNP clearance from the Tagbilaran City Police Station.
Based on information, Lorete was previously employed at the Capitol but was discharged after his first arrest and detention. (KB, RT)