CEBU, Philippines — Police Regional Office-7 director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas has ordered the immediate relief of 11 policemen in Ronda, including the station commander, who were on duty when Mayor Mariano Blanco III was shot dead by four unknown gunmen inside his office Wednesday dawn.
Ronda police chief Sr. Insp. Jay Palcon and 10 of his subordinates were ordered to report to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU) at the Cebu Provincial Police Office effective yesterday. Palcon was replaced by Inspector Renato Albuera, former deputy station chief of Minglanilla Police Station.
There were also non-commissioned officers from the Provincial Mobile Force Company who were assigned to Ronda as replacement of those who were relieved.
Sinas said the 11 policemen will be investigated for possible lapses because of their failure to immediately respond to the killing of Blanco despite the fact that the police station is just a stone’s throw away from the municipal hall.
“It doesn’t mean we are blaming them, we are just doing this administratively to determine what the police lapses are,” Sinas said.
Senior Police Officer 1 Dionisio Tagopa said there were only two policemen left in the station when the brazen attack on Blanco happened because the others, including the chief of police, were out to serve a warrant of arrest.
The four unidentified gunmen arrived at around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday on board a white van. The gunmen ordered the two job order employees who served as watchmen to duck down before barging into the municipal hall.
Blanco’s attackers forced their way into the mayor’s office, where the local chief executive had holed himself up following threats to his life, via an extended staircase at the back of the municipal hall building. Moments later, successive gunshots were heard from the mayor’s office.
Despite the proximity of the police station, it took a while for the police to respond. The police claimed they need to secure their station first because they were not sure where the gunshots came from.
Philippine National Police spokesperson Benigno Durana Jr. was quoted in national report that the incident may also result in the relief of CPPO director Sr. Supt. Manuel Abrugena. According to Durana, an investigation will be conducted to determine the possible lapses of the local police.
However, Sinas said he does not see the need to relieve Abrugena. He said the provincial director is on top of the situation.
“I will not relieve Abrugena,” Sinas told reporters.
Sinas assured Abrugena that he will remain in his post. According to Sinas, they will explain the situation in their report to Camp Crame.
Special investigation task group
A Special Investigation Task Group led by Abrugena was already created to look into the killing of Blanco. Sinas said that drugs and politics are the main motives they are looking into because the mayor was tagged by President Rodrigo Duterte as narco-politician.
In fact, he had been stripped of his supervisory power over the police after the National Police Commission revoked his deputation in 2016.
Sinas said they are giving the family enough time to grieve before digging deeper into the case, especially the political angle considering that Blanco was also linked in the death of his nephew and vice mayor Jonah John Ungab in February this year. Blanco already denied any involvement in the killing of Ungab.
The late mayor will be buried at a public cemetery in Ronda on Sunday, September 16, after a requiem Mass at the Our Lady of Sorrows Parish.
Meanwhile, the family of the mayor has yet to discuss the possibility of requesting a parallel investigation from the National Bureau of Investigation. Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III said he advised the family to see the regional director of the NBI in Central Visayas if they wish a separate probe.
Earlier, the family of Ungab also sought the help of the NBI.
Filling the vacancy
First Councilor Rocky Gabatan, who earlier succeeded as vice mayor after Ungab’s death, will again move up to succeed Blanco.
The council, however, is seeking the guidance of the Department of the Interior and Local Government on who will succeed as vice mayor because the number two elected councilor, Jay-Ann Villalon Cañete, had already resigned and migrated to the United States. She was earlier replaced by her mother Angeline Villalon.
By succession, however, the third in rank is Councilor Jorge Llego.
The members of the municipal council asked the DILG to clarify who between Villalon and Llego should sit as vice mayor. The FREEMAN tried to reach DILG Cebu Province but the provincial director was unavailable.
As for the vacant seat in the municipal council, Davide said the Liberal Party is yet to decide who will fill in the vacancy. (FREEMAN)