On Tom's recommendation: 'Inept' police chief loses P1T allowance

Barely a month after he was relieved from the Mobile Patrol Group and subsequently reassigned to the Carbon police station as its chief, Supt. Herman Lungayan is again in trouble with Mayor Tomas Osmeña, the latter cutting off his P1,000 cash incentives and recommending for his transfer outside Cebu City.

This was revealed by councilor Augustus "Jun" Pe Jr., member of the council's committee on police, in an interview with reporters yesterday morning.

Pe said Osmeña ordered to cut off Lungayan's allowance effective this month after finding the latter's performance still unsatisfactory.

Further, the councilor said they are presently working on Osmeña's directive to recommend to the Police Regional Office-7 the transfer of Lungayan outside Cebu City.

Last May, Osmeña suspended the one-month incentive pay of MPG policemen effective immediately because Lungayan, reportedly "does not want" to follow his order. He was then angry over the absence of policemen at Crossroads in barangay Banilad.

Since then Osmeña has been criticizing Lungayan which led to the latter's transfer to Carbon police station, taking the blame for the death of two city policemen, the very first casualties of the Crime Suppression Unit since its creation eight months ago.

Osmeña said the possibility that CSU "is not well-led" might have been the reason for procedural lapses in responding to emergency calls, pointing out that the laxity of Lungayan had caused lives. CSU then was reportedly under Lungayan's watch.

PO2s Armando Juegos and Oliver Jamboy were killed while responding to a call for police assistance regarding a domestic violence alarm last August 28.

Osmeña said the remaining 24 policemen that compose the group are "fairly well-trained and competent." The CSU, formerly called the Hunters Team, was created by Osmeña last December to go after criminals and drug lords. - Cristina C. Birondo