Int’l NGO commends couple cops
The International Justice Mission lauded two police officers of Police Regional Office 6 for their noteworthy accomplishments against human trafficking.
IJM, with a Field Office in Mandaue City, Cebu, is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.
IJM sent recently a letter to PRO6 director, Police Chief Superintendent Isagani Cuevas, commending Police Officers III (POIIIs) Francisco B. Lindero, Jr. and Janette L. Lindero for their efforts in pursuing leads to locate a victim of human trafficking.
The assistance of the couple cops was sought on October 22, 2009 to intercept the bus and protect the 22-year-old girl who was allegedly beaten and locked up after refusing to go out with a customer in a bar in Romblon.
IJM Director for Investigations, Daryl Tait Purviance, said that the girl was allegedly beaten and locked up after refusing to go out with a customer. After much pleading for her release, her employer placed her on a boat to Aklan and instructed her to ride a bus to Iloilo City. She was told there would be people waiting for her when she arrived. Fearing that the bar owner actually sold her to someone else, she texted her brother who in turn reported the incident to Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna of Mandaue City.
“These officers coordinated with other police stations in Iloilo, and after a long night of searching, they located the victim. They escorted her to a safe house and attended to her needs until she was safely onboard a boat to Cebu,” Purviance stated further in his letter.
This is was the second time that IJM worked with the couple. The first was in March 29 during the arrest of Doris Seno and Carlos Dela Rosa, who were the alleged perpetrators of trafficking of several young girls, including minors, from Mandaue City and forcing them to work inside a case here.
POIII Francisco B. Lindero Jr, who is assigned at the Regional Public Information Office, and his wife, POIII Janette L. Lindero, who is assigned at the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Group (RAIDSOG), were referred by their friend in Cebu City to help the IJM operative in pursuing leads for the whereabouts of the suspects, which eventually led to their arrest.
Seno and Dela Rosa are now detained at Cebu City Rehabilitation Center facing seven counts of crime of qualified human trafficking.
Cuevas also lauded the couple cops for their accomplishments and enjoined other police officers to emulate their examples.
“Definitely, this admirable performance of two police officers, who are husband and wife, will inspire our law enforcers and other couples to always render excellent public service,” Cuevas said. (POI Jeramae C Rio)
