Drug witnesses killed off

Espenido was recently appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the BCPO under the Police Regional Office in Western Visayas.

Newly-assigned deputy director for operations of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) Police Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido yesterday disclosed the death of 12 of his 13 witnesses in a drug campaign which has yet to see conviction of the suspects he had nailed.

Espenido said he wants to finish the job of clearing provinces of big illegal drug operations even as he has been moved to his fourth provincial assignment after his controversial stint in Albuera, Leyte, which ended in the neutralization of former Mayor Rolando Espinosa.

Espinosa was killed on 5 November 2016 in an alleged shootout with operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) which claimed to have found drugs and a gun in his possession while detained at the Baybay City Provincial Jail. Espenido was Albuera’s chief of police when it happened.

Espinosa is the father of top drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa, who is currently in detention for various drugs charges.

Espenido was recently appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to the BCPO under the Police Regional Office in Western Visayas (PRO-6). But he expressed worry his witnesses, who all stand against high-powered personalities and politicians involved in the illicit drug trade which the President is staunchly against, are in danger of being killed off one by one.

“The protection of our witnesses (is at stake). From our 13 witnesses in Albuera, only one is surviving and the others are dead. This is because they are witnesses of the protectors (with positions) in government. But what is happening is they are slowly being killed off,” Espenido said in a radio interview.

Espenido also currently chairs the oversight committee on illegal drugs with the BCPO’s City Drug Enforcement Unit, a position he assumed following brief stints in Albuera, Leyte and Ozamiz, Misamis Occidental, all of which were controversial due to the deaths of two politicians who were suspected to be involved with drugs. He was also briefly assigned in Catanduanes.

The killings of Mayor Espinosa, who revealed that several police officials, congressmen and a senator are among his son Kerwin’s cohorts in the drug trade; and that of Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog in Ozamiz City, who was slain in a drug raid, were all blamed on Espenido. He was assigned to both areas at the time of the operations against the two dead former local government officials.

Espenido maintained that he hopes the remaining witnesses would testify against the dubious personalities to convict them — all while keeping them alive.

He admitted that he had to exercise caution in filing cases because the witnesses would be put in danger.

“In Ozamiz, we also have witnesses, but I held off filing cases because they might end up dead. This is because we will be filing cases against police generals and politicians who are tough opponents,” Espenido said.

“We will protect the right and property of the people, for those who sacrificed their lives to make sure that the protectors are revealed, which is the most important of all.”

Espenido said he had no choice when he was transferred to Bacolod while he was not yet through with the Ozamiz case, wherein Parojinog and 15 others were killed in a series of drug raids.

Cases have remained unsolved without any personality convicted for involvement in the illegal drug trade.

“I was surprised because the President said the Ozamis case should be closed. We were not yet done with the case there. The Parojinogs have not been put on trial yet (when I was reassigned). But we have to follow orders,” Espenido said.

“All I want is that we finish whatever we started, we finish the cases, not ending it just like that and leaving it open. We would end up doing nothing,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is expected to have more leadership changes in the coming days in connection with the impending retirement of senior officers in the coming months, aside from rebuilding its eroded image following the “ninja cops” controversy.

“We can expect more (leadership) changes to happen especially with the President naming a permanent PNP chief soon,” spokesperson PBGen. Bernard Banac said in an interview, as Camp Crame announced the reshuffle.

“This is a continuing challenge for the Philippine National Police to ensure that discipline is maintained within our ranks,” he added.

Banac, however, did not disclose if the looming revamp would be centered on the national headquarters or include major units nationwide.

PNP officer-in-charge PLt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa over the weekend implemented a major shakeup within the command group that moved 20 generals and two colonels to new assignments in acting capacities.

Gamboa followed it up by issuing a directive that all officials holding key positions will be put on a three-month probation and promotions of star-rank officers also on hold.

This, according to Gamboa, is for the PNP to have “fresh ideas and new vigor” and to ensure that “the axe will fall where it should if these leaders will not deliver results.”

The 190,000-strong police force is currently on the mend following the “ninja cops” controversy that forced former PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde to relinquish his post and take a “non-duty status” weeks ahead of his 8 November retirement.

At the same time, the PNP will soon have more personnel as thousands of rookie patrol officers made the cut to fill the organization’s annual vacancies of recruits.

In a statement, Camp Crame bared that 9,451 passed the initial round of rigorous recruitment for male and female law enforcers.

“Because the Filipino people deserve only the highest quality of law enforcement and public safety services that the PNP can offer, we make sure that only the best and most qualified applicants are recruited into the police force who will someday lead the organization,” Gamboa said.

According to the official, from a pool of 38,357 applicants for patrolman processed by the Police Regional Offices (PRO) and National Support Units for this year, a total of 9,451 hopefuls passed the preliminary selection process that evaluated the overall fitness of every candidate based on the minimum standards set by the PNP.

They will undergo the mandatory six-month Public Safety Basic Recruit Course in the National Police Training Institute to be followed by six more months of Field Training Program before they will be deployed to their mother units and put on full duty status.

The PNP, by authority of the National Police Commission has allocated 10,000 spots for new police personnel this year where the unfilled quota of 549 recruits in the PRO was allocated to the National Capital Region Police Office for processing to complete 100 percent of the annual recruitment requirement.

“We continue to preserve the culture of professionalism in the recruitment and selection process by imposing added safeguards to ensure transparency and integrity of administrative procedures in the entire screening and evaluation process for recruits,” Gamboa noted.