Formal administrative charges of grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer were filed Friday by the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) Inspection, Monitoring and Investigation Service (IMIS) against former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director Brigadier Gen. Romeo Macapaz for deliberately obstructing the probe into the missing sabungeros case.

The filing of charges, according to NAPOLCOM-IMIS Director Edman Pares, were based on complaint charges filed by whistleblower Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan and his brothers last week.

The Patidongan brothers accused Macapaz of protecting the alleged mastermind Atong Ang, when the official unlawfully seized the cellphones of complainant Ellakim T. Patidongan and his brother, Jose Patidongan, and refused to immediately return them despite repeated demands.

They accused Macapaz of altering key evidence by deleting messages contained in their devices and concealing the SD (memory) cards of their seized mobile phones with the intent to impair their availability as vital evidence in the ongoing investigation on missing sabungeros.

Pares meanwhile told the Daily Tribune that Ellakim and Jose Patidongan earlier tagged Macapaz, lawyer Jairus Vincent Concina, and Lt. Col. Rossel Encarnacion as conspiring and maltreating them when they were picked up from Cambodia in July this year.

Ellakim claimed Macapaz had them arrested upon arrival at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The then CIDG official, according to Ellakim, took their mobile phones, which contained important evidence related to the ‘missing sabungeros’ case and when returned, "there was no SIM card and no memory card.”

"We only found a probable cause, on Macapaz," Pares said.

NAPOLCOM Vice Chairperson, Atty. Rafael Calinisan on the other hand said there is already a full-blown hearing on the former CIDG chief.

"Gumugulong na kaso, me formal charges na. It will then go to en banc for decision," Calinisan said, as he vowed that the commission has promised that all cases filed to them will have a 60-day resolution period.