OZAMIZ CITY—Carefully matching her
description of him as uncontrollable and disorderly, Acting Mayor Irene
“Girlet” Luansing lately called City Chief of Police C/Insp. Jovie Espenido as the
“new hoodlum on the block.”
Luansing’s name-calling was
contained in a letter dated Nov. 29. 2017 and forwarded to Chief PNP Dir. Gen.
Ronald de la Rosa, a copy of which was obtained by Mindanaoan Broadcasting
Channel chief Expedita Roxas and shared to The Philippine Preview.
In the said letter, the local chief
executive called the attention of the PNP director over the unruly conduct of
Espenido and appealed for attention for the interest and integrity of
institutions and the correctness of police functions.
Luansing cited four details in her
letter: first is the pronouncement of bad words by the police chief against her
and her men on account of baseless accusations, bringing up Espenido’s earlier threat
to Ryan Rosauro—the mayor’s chief executive assistant—a conduct she says is
unbecoming of a police officer.
Next, Luansing says Espenido has
been harping about her cutting off the city police’s support when the truth is that
such funding was already restored by her leadership after the late Mayor
Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. scrapped it off middle of 2017.
The specified budget, it was
learned, is the food allowance for police troops, the monthly communication
allowance for each police officer and the RATA for Espenido and his two
deputies.
The mayor added they even allowed
the local police to use the LGU-owned vehicles and motorcycles complete with a
monthly fuel provision.
The mayor continued by saying that
Espenido tried to dip his fingers into local governance matters by relocating
the ambulant vendors outside the public market premises into the Cotta Shrine
area and bullying them to comply.
She said that there has also been confusion
among the city’s riding public after the police officer fixed the motorcab
fares to P10 from P8 and issued tariff cards for boundary routes.
“This is usurpation of the
functions of the local government which is provided in the Local Government
Code,” Luansing said.
“These actions are tantamount to
him acting as the replacement local thug, the new hoodlum on the block, which
erodes the credibility of the local police which he himself greatly contributed
to restoring,” the mayor added.
Fourth, Luansing said that Espenido
withdrew in person without appropriate notice the police sentry at the City Hall
who was requested by the mayor to secure the area, including her own police
escort, who was provided personally by force of President Duterte’s order.
Luansing said this is very unusual
and quite alarming since her own security issues are many, largely on the part that
she has earned the ire of the Parojinog kin as a result of the cleansing she set
up in a number of local government offices inside the City Hall.
Lastly, the mayor said the police
chief’s participation has been absent in the City Peace and Order Council,
which means that as a law enforcer, he should have assisted the mayor in the
proper enforcement of laws and the administration of justice.
At the moment, Espenido is out of
town and cannot be contacted.
Michael Medina
Editor-in-chief
The Philippine Preview