New Pasay mayor reports for work, fires police chief

Pasay City acting Mayor Allan Panaligan, on his first day in office, ordered the relief of recently appointed police chief Superintendent Marietto Valerio for allegedly failing to clear City Hall of people loyal to suspended Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad.

This developed as Panaligan, acting Vice Mayor Arvin Tolentino and Councilors RJ Cabrera and Marlon Pesebre, the only members of the City Council not suspended by the Ombudsman over allegedly anomalous garbage collection contracts, successfully took over City Hall yesterday morning despite the presence of Trinidad’s supporters.

The four went straight to the Session Hall, which they referred to as a "common area."

"Col. Valerio failed to do his job. I repeatedly gave him instructions to immediately clear the crowd in front of the building and have the front door opened so that City Hall can be back in business. Unfortunately, he didn’t meet my expectations," Panaligan said.

Valerio endangered the lives of the four officials by not following his orders, he said.

"It was good that the security guards were already here and were able to assist us as we went inside. He (Valerio) gave word he would support us, but that didn’t happen," Panaligan said.

Before going to City Hall, Panaligan and his camp dropped by the Pasay City Sports Complex, where he had previously planned to hold office.

The new mayor said he officially requested Department of Interior and Local Government (DIG) Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar and Southern Police District (SPD) director Senior Ricardo Padilla to relieve Valerio as Pasay police chief.

"I will still be holding discussions with Gen. Padilla over the vacancy," he added. Valerio was the former Makati police chief who was "relieved" from his post a month ago following the arrest of former Makati Vice Mayor Roberto Brillante, a staunch critic of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.

Superintendent Mike Filart of the SPD has been designated as Panaligan’s security officer.

The mayor said he and his camp would remain at Session Hall and will hold office there.

"We expect the situation at City Hall to normalize," he added.

For his part, Filart said they are still observing the crowd though they are not yet considering dispersal as an option.

"We are coordinating with the City Engineer’s Office on how to properly address the people and make them leave the area," he said.

Meanwhile, Trinidad, who had been expected to address his supporters, was a no-show yesterday.

For security reasons, he decided not to go to City Hall when his supporters reported that armed men were seen roaming in the area.

The DILG was able to serve the suspension order against Trinidad, Vice Mayor Antonio Calixto and 10 councilors last Wednesday morning.