Well, at least they weren’t drunk.
The Las Piñas City police force, which last month had four officers busted for drinking on the job, this morning found a new way to get in trouble: sleeping on the job.
A trio of officers got a rude awakening in the wee hours this morning courtesy of Major General Guillermo Eleazar, chief of Metro Manila police, who personally dragged at least one of them from the vehicle they were snoozing in.
Eleazar first caught Corporal Eugine Ybasco and Corporal Jayson Monsales sleeping inside their vehicle, which was parked along Alabang-Zapote road in Pamplona Dos, according to GMA News. General Eleazar dragged Ybasco out of the vehicle to force him to explain.
The latter told Eleazar they had to sleep because they’ve been awake for 24 hours, failing — as you might guess — to explain precisely what duties would require staying awake for 24 hours straight.
It didn’t end there. Eleazar, accompanied by a group of reporters he brought along just for the occasion, then went to the nearby Las Piñas City Police Community Precinct 2, where he found Staff Sergeant Danny Cerbito asleep at his desk, a video taken by The Philippine Daily Inquirer showed.
The police chief then slammed his palm on Cerbito’s desk, which startled the Staff Sergeant so much he jumped to his feet, just in time for Eleazar to berate him in front of the cameras.
Metro Manila’s police chief is known for publicly scolding people, including his own men. In March, he went viral when he roughed up a cop who was accused of taking bribes from drug suspects. Even teenagers haven’t been spared by his wrath. In June, he scolded a dozen high school students for hanging out at a cyber cafe during class hours.
All three of the sleeping cops this morning were ordered to surrender their arms. They will be charged with neglect of duty and were told to report to Eleazar’s office along with their precinct commander, reported Diaryo Bomba.
