MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has relieved the provincial police office director and three town police chiefs in Negros Oriental in the aftermath of anti-criminality operations that killed 14 people.
PNP Chief Police General Oscar Albayalde said on Tuesday that he has ordered the relief of officials to allow the impartial investigation of the incident that was held over the weekend.
Among those relieved were Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office Director Colonel Raul Tacaca, Chiefs-of-Police Lieutenant Colonel Patricio Degay (Canlaon City Police Station), Lieutenant Kevin Roy Mamaradlo (Manjuyod Municipal Policed Station) and Captain Michael Rubia (Sta. Catalina Municipal Police Station).
It was reported that 14 persons have been killed during separate police operations in Canlaon City and in the towns of Manjuyod and Sta. Catalina.
PNP spokesman Colonel Bernard Banac however, denied that last week’s incident was a massacre and said that it was a legitimate operation as some of the targets were involved in past incidents targeting policemen and soldiers.
“There was no massacre. All these law enforcement operations that was conducted by the Negros Oriental Police Office was legitimate and covered by search warrants,” said Banac.
“The operation was part of a nationwide campaign against loose firearms,” he added. “There was never an intention to eliminate all the suspects.”
“It could be recalled that authorities served arrest warrants late Friday on suspected “hardcore criminals” who fought back, police said. Kabataan Party-list Representative Sarah Elago however dubbed the incident as massacre.
The Commission on Human Rights is conducting an investigation on Negros Oriental anti-crime operations to find out “the truth behind police operations, which authorities claim to serve arrest warrants, but resulted in deaths”./PN
