Tuguegarao police chief sacked

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines - The police chief of Tuguegarao City, capital of Cagayan, has been stripped of his post amid a number of unsolved crimes, including the recent killing of a local Liberal Party (LP) executive.

Superintendent Madzgani Mukaram has been designated as officer-in-charge of the city police, replacing Superintendent Pedro Martirez, whose relief came following a reported P1-million robbery-holdup in a doctor’s clinic. 

Martirez’s relief took effect last Thursday, said Chief Superintendent Francisco Villaroman, Cagayan Valley police director.

Martirez, assigned as Tuguegarao police chief only last December, took over Mukaram’s post as head of the provincial public safety company of the Cagayan police. 

Martirez’s relief came amid a spate of unsolved killings and robberies in the northern city, including the gun-slaying of former Peñablanca town councilor Lyndon Obispo, 43, and councilman Marvellon Baltazar, 36, of Solana town. 

“I ordered his (Martirez’s) relief following the series of unsolved crimes in the city, as well as the failure of his men to conduct beat patrols in critical areas. They were becoming over-dependent on police personnel from the regional office,” Villaroman said. 

Obispo, who was unsuccessful in his bid for the Peñablanca mayoral post, was the town’s LP chairman at the time of his killing. 

Villaroman said it was Tuguegarao City Mayor Delfin Ting himself who sought Martirez’s replacement following these unsolved crimes. 

Martirez’s predecessor, Superintendent Eliseo Tanding, was also relieved of his post last December or about two weeks after Ting survived an attempt on his life.