EIGHT policemen of Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) were relieved from their duties for abandoning their posts, City Police Director Senior Superintendent Nelson Aganon said.
Cocpo spokesperson Police Superintendent Mardy Hortillosa identified the relieved cops as Police Officer 1 (PO1) Chris Lanzaderas, PO2 Lorgen Ysalina, PO3 Elnes Concha, PO1 Eldefonso Moralidad Jr., PO3 Bebelito Casing Jr., PO1 Raymung Daisog, PO1 Ramel Murro, and PO1 Alfie Tagapulot. All of whom were assigned at Police Station 2 in Cogon.
Lanzaderas will be reassigned to Police Station 7 in Bulua, while Ysalina, Casing, Daisog, and Murro to Police Station 8 in Lumbia, and Tagapulot to Police Station 10 in Barangay Cugman.
Hortillosa said the policemen, after a surprise visit of city director Aganon, were not in their assigned posts last May 1.
The city police chief yet again surprised the Cogon police with a visit on Friday morning, May 4, and warned all police personnel to be responsible at all times.
Hortillosa said Aganon also warned the rest of the station commanders to monitor or keep tabs their police personnel if they are indeed doing their duties.
Hortillosa said the city police director is also planning to transfer the 8 cops to another police office, outside of Cocpo, after elections.
Since Aganon assumed as the city police director last April 2, this is the first time that he has ordered to remove policemen.
Aganon has been vocal and in fact, it was his first order of business that policemen should report for work at dawn, ahead of most ordinary working men and women. He ordered the first shift changed from 8 a.m. to 5 a.m., saying that before people go out to the streets, police must already be there.
During his visit at the city council, Aganon also vowed to increase police visibilty to further deter crimes in communities.