Mandaue officials look into alleged coverup by police

CEBU - The Mandaue city council will be inviting Police Regional Office-7 director Ronald Roderos and OIC Mandaue City Police Office director Orlando Ualat to shed light in the attempted coverup of the suspect in the killing of a call center employee two weeks ago.

Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said that the council would also want to know what caused the relief of Investigation and Detective Management Bureau (IDMB) chief Eddie Recamara days after his team arrested Jonelle Enfectana, the principal suspect in the killing of Lynn Vi Ebarita inside a room of Nikkei Garden Hotel last January.

Chief Insp. Recamara was relieved from his post as IDMB chief effective last Wednesday and he now heads the Casuntingan Police station.

He was replaced by Supt. Jason Capoy.

Fortuna said that the move to invite these police officials came after they received information that the investigating team was pressured by some officials within the PNP organization to withhold the findings and eventual filing of murder charges against Enfectana.

He added that the transfer of Recamara only boosts the suspicions.

Fortuna said that aside from the city council, Mayor Jonas Cortes should also initiate the move to invite these officials to shed light on the alleged attempt to cover up.

 “While we respect the right of the suspect, we will not approve of interventions.  If they can do it in other areas, we will not allow that they will do it in our city. We will also protect our men and women who have made a break in this crime investigation,” Fortuna said.

Fortuna further said that the council will pass a resolution in their session next Tuesday urging Ualat to retain Recamara in his post until all evidence will be gathered and that Enfectana’s four alleged cohorts will be arrested.

Sources said that some “police officials” coming from Police Regional Office-8 called their counterparts at the MCPO urging them not to arrest and pursue the filing of murder charges against Enfectana.

The alleged intervention of these police officials reportedly also caused the delay in the arrest of Enfectana last week.

Last Monday, Eric Pagar, a former media personality who also facilitated a press conference in behalf of the Enfectana family, told reporters that a politician friend from Borongan, Eastern Samar has asked help in behalf of the family.

The politician is said to be a “godmother” of the suspect. The family of the suspect, however, denied the claims that the politician was pressuring the Mandaue city police in their investigation.

City Councilor Diosdado Suico also received a letter yesterday coming from Vicente Enfectana, the victim’s father asking for the retention of Recamara as he is worried because the case is still on-going and other suspects are still at large.

In a separate interview, Ualat yesterday said that he was unaware of the alleged attempt to cover-up involving his men.

He even urged those who believe so to file a formal complaint before his office so that he can take immediate action.

Ualat said that the only pressure that they got was to arrest the suspects immediately.

He said that the relief of Recamara was part of a normal rotation of key positions. This also came because just recently the higher headquarters reassigned a police official with a rank of a “Superintendent” for MCPO.

Meanwhile, Mayor Cortes said that he knew nothing about the relief of Recamara and will still talk with Ualat about it. — Flor Z. Perolina/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)