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Eleazar assures clear, impartial result of probe on Calbayog mayor death
Eleazar assures clear, impartial result of probe on Calbayog mayor death
The Philippine National Police (PNP) assured the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) of a clear and impartial result of investigation on the death of Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino amid allegations that he was a subject of an ambush perpetrated by policemen.
In a meeting with city mayors, PNP officer-in-charge Police Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar said that they were also saddened by the death of Aquino, being among the local chief executives who supervise the maintenance of peace and order at the local level.
He said that they are still awaiting for the thorough result of the investigation and in order to ensure the impartiality of the probe, there were some policemen who were relieved from their posts and those involved in the incident were restricted to quarters.
“Like the city mayors, we in the PNP are also determined to find out what really happened because we also lost three of our men in that incident,” said Eleazar.
Aside from Mayor Aquino, three policemen were also killed in the incident that occurred on March 8, one of them was the police security detail of the mayor while the other two were part of the convoy which allegedly figured in a clash with the group of the local chief executive.
Reports have been circulating that Aquino was ambushed and it was the policemen who opened fire at his vehicle but the police insisted that it was an encounter after the security detail of Aquino opened fire at the policemen after suspecting the vehicles loaded with cops were tailing them.
Eleazar, earlier, ordered local policemen to refrain from commenting on the case and likewise appealed to the public to do the same and wait instead for the result of the investigation.
It was LCP national president, Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who initiated the dialogue to primarily express its condemnation over the death of Mayor Aquino, and to press for assurance from the PNP that measures will be put in place to prevent similar situations.
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former PNP deputy chief for administration and an LCP official, personally came to the national headquarters to represent their association face-to-face in the dialogue.
He expressed gratitude and appreciation to the PNP for accommodating their request, and also manifested the LCP’s full trust and confidence to the PNP.