BACOLOD City – “Why me? Why is this happening to me?” Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido, sacked deputy director for operations of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), asked this yesterday as he faced the local media.
He accused unnamed “influential politicians” of scheming to include his name in the government’s list of policemen with alleged links to illegal drugs.
“Why are you resorting to character assassination? Nagpapakita lang ba na kayo ay guilty?” Espenido asked.
The police official believed he may have ruffled the feathers of some politicians in his assiduous campaign against illegal drugs.
“Bakit ako? Bakit natabo sa akin (ito),” lamented Espenido. “Hindi man ako politician. Dapat tigilan na ang pag-accuse sa akin.”
The police officer, now on floating status at the office of the Philippine National Police director in Camp Crame, did not say if these politicians were based in Bacolod City or Negros Occidental, or elsewhere in the country.
Prior to his Bacolod City assignment, Espenido had stints in, among others, Albuera, Leyte and Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental.
He stressed he does not believe colleagues in the police service plotted to besmirch his reputation because they shared the same mission – stop drug trafficking.
Espenido was removed from the BCPO two weeks after describing Bacolod City as “shabulized”.
On July 30, 2017 Ozamiz City’s Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and 14 others were killed in a shootout led by Espenido who was serving search warrants at Parojinog’s properties in barangays Baybay San Roque and Baybay Santa Cruz.
In November 2016, Espenido was also the police chief of Albuera, Leyte when its mayor, Rolando Espinosa Sr., was killed in a shootout as police were attempting to serve a search warrant.
Both Parojinog and Espinosa were linked by President Rodrigo Duterte to illegal drugs.
Minutes after Espenido’s Bacolod City press conference, PNP chief General Archie Gamboa in Camp Crame, Quezon City indicated the police official could be further investigated for violating the gag order he issued.
Prior to holding yesterday’s press conference here, Espenido on Monday issued a statement seemingly criticizing the PNP for his inclusion in the narco list. He said there was a “failure of intelligence.”
“I will deal with Espenido squarely as the chief PNP and he being a member of the PNP,” Gamboa told reporters on the sidelines of the 1st anniversary of the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group in Camp Crame.
Gamboa, however, did not specify how the PNP would deal with Espenido’s statements.
“We have internal mechanisms. I will deal with him internally,” Gamboa said.
The PNP chief had been mum on the 356 policemen included in the government’s drug watch list despite repeated questions from the media.
He promised the policemen he would not humiliate them by revealing their names, said Gamboa.
It was Secretary Eduardo Año of the Department of Interior and Local Government who confirmed that Espenido was in the narco list. He then advised Espenido to clear himself by undergoing the PNP validation process.
In an interview with online news site Rappler, Espenido said there was “a failure of intelligence-gathering because hindi nila nai-process.”
Regarding Gamboa, he said, “May authority talaga siya right then and there na makapagsabi na ‘go’ or ‘no. Because that is the prerogative of the chief PNP. Ikaw ang chief PNP, baka mabalikan ka, kasi ang mga tao nakatingin sa ’yo.”
The narco list is a consolidation of intelligence and other reports from various law enforcement agencies and still needs to be validated.
The list also includes local government officials and judges, among others.
Gamboa said he will submit the result of the validation during the joint command conference of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines with President Rodrigo Duterte on March 5.
The validation process involves adjudication at the regional and directorial levels for one week before the cases go to the national level (for another three weeks).
PNP’s National Adjudication Board, under deputy chief for administration, Lieutenant General Camilo Cascolan, has one month to finish the validation of the information on these police officers.
Espenido confirmed yesterday that the validation process on him had started. He said policemen already visited his house in Isabel, Leyte and even took photos.
Espenido said he told his family to cooperate with the police. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
