Geollegue said he was driven to defect after giving up hope on finding justice on what he described as trumped up robbery charges filed against him in 1993, partly on the instigation of fellow police officers, for which he was convicted to a four to six-year sentence. He said the final straw was the recent affirmation of his sentence by the Supreme Court.
“I have no more option,” he said. “I will serve here and am willing to accept whatever tasks the comrades see fit to give me.” He said his conviction was the result of collusion between the police officers who he said he had placed under surveillance for running a criminal syndicate that engaged in, among others, drug running in southern Negros and the lower court judge, now retired, who heard the case.
The subsequent affirmations of his sentence by the Court of Appeals and high court, he said, were helped along by government officials, including some “very close to Malacañang,” to whom the rogue cops enjoyed close links.
But even before his conviction was affirmed, Geollegue said he had already been “very frustrated” with the rampant corruption and criminality in the armed services, particularly the police, and government inaction.
“Syndicates are free (to operate) because of protection from authorities, from the highest levels to the lowest ranks,” he said. “Honest officers are very, very rare.”
Although he said he had considered resigning “many, many times,” the demands of duty kept him from leaving until the final affirmation of his conviction.
Geollegue also accused “people very, very close to Malacañang” and even “inside the Palace” of running or protecting big time illegal gambling and smuggling operations. “Among the rackets of these well-known personalities is large scale sugar smuggling” in collusion with some sugar planters’ groups, Geollegue said.
Although he declined to mention names, saying he did not have documented proof in his possession, Geollegue said the current exposes on jueteng were “102 percent accurate” and that, in Negros Occidental’s fifth district, protection for illegal gambling operations was provided by “influential persons…up to the level of congressman.”
The district’s representative to the House is presidential brother-in-law Ignacio Arroyo who, along with First Gentleman Jose Miguel and Pampanga Rep. Mikey, the President’s son, has been accused of receiving huge payoffs from jueteng lords.
Geollegue hails from Himamaylan City, which belongs to the fifth district.
The only way for government to save itself from overthrow, Geollegue said, was for it to “recognize the plight of the poor. Since I came to the hills, I have seen real poverty up close and how government has done absolutely nothing about it.”
He said he took pride in the fact that “I have not amassed any wealth” because he refused to be corrupted, even if he admitted it had been hard for him to support his family on his pay alone. Geollegue is married to Ivy Mejorada, with whom he has two children – Krishna, 18 and a college student, and Karl Jovy, seven months old.
Contacted by phone, his wife Ivy said her husband’s decision to defect was “very painful for us” and made it more difficult for her to raise their children. But, she added, “I cannot blame him for his decision.”
She thanked the rebels “for welcoming him with open arms. Since we cannot find justice in the lowlands, it is right that we seek justice among the people and those who help the oppressed.” The last time they met was Holy Week, she said.
Although she admitted their daughter had taken Geollegue’s decision very hard, “she came to accept it after some (of her husband’s) comrades explained the reasons for his defection to her. Now she is okay and is even proud of him.”
Asked what his birthday wish was, Geollegue replied: “Justice, a peaceful and quiet life, and good health for my family.” Bulatlat
