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Saturday, June 29, 2002
Glo to Razon: Hang in; Chavit blasts Lina order
By Garry Cabotaje with Allan I. Varquez/AFP
“DON’T resign.”
This was the advice President Arroyo gave Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Avelino Razon Jr. during a meeting with five other sacked top police officials in Malacañang Thursday night.
Arroyo’s instruction came after Razon tendered his resignation as PRO 7 chief a day after Interior Secretary Jose Lina announced the relief of seven police officials, including Razon and Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Chief Jose Antonio Salvacion, on Wednesday for failing to curb illegal numbers games like jueteng and masiao.
Former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Chavit Singson described as “scripted” the relief of the seven ranking PNP officials, saying there are many other PNP officers who deserve the penalty.
In a dyLA interview, he branded as unfair the relief of Razon and Salvacion.
He suspects the two are just victims of the wrongdoings of their subordinates because he has not heard of any jueteng operation in Cebu.
“Baka merong na-involved pero ang tinatamaan ay yong mga superior,” he said referring to Razon and Salvacion.
Of the seven, only Razon tendered his resignation letter to PNP Chief Leandro Mendoza as he demanded for an impartial and speedy investigation.
“She told me not to resign,” Razon quoted the President as saying during their Malacañang meeting.
Razon earlier said his resignation was meant to erase speculations he was clinging to his post and getting some benefits from illegal gambling operations.
Though, Lina, also National Police Commission (Napolcom) chairman, said the relief, which stemmed from a Napolcom resolution, will take effect only upon the clearance of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Also, Mendoza, who will turn over his post on July 4 to Police Director Hermogenes Ebdane, has not acted on Razon’s resignation.
Although Razon’s resignation has not been approved yet, the name of Chief Supt. Vidal Querol, the present Northern Police District chief, surfaced as the next PRO 7 director.
Querol, a PMA class ‘73 graduate, hails from Pangasinan but lives with his family in Baliwag, Bulacan.
Meanwhile, Salvacion flew to Manila at 1 a.m. after bidding goodbye to his subordinates at CPPO headquarters yesterday. He carried with him his two-page resignation letter.
“This resignation was borne out of the `unfairness’ of the announcement made by honorable Jose Lina Jr...relieving me as provincial director...without due process,” his letter read.
Salvacion said the Napolcom memorandum circular on the relief of police commanders was not followed because Task Force Jericho, DILG’s anti-gambling arm, conducted only two successful operations in Cebu.
Three successful anti-gambling operations or “strike 3” by the task force or any independent unit not organic to the local police force would mean the immediate relief of police commanders.
But Salvacion said the third operation was conducted in Cebu City, which is outside CPPO’s area of jurisdiction.
In the same letter, Salvacion requested Mendoza for reassignment to Camp Crame “to be near my family to make up for the long period of time I was away from them while I performed my duties devotedly and faithfully here in Cebu.”
He said not only his family, but also his relatives abroad have been adversely affected by his relief.
Salvacion furnished Gov. Pablo Garcia, Razon and PB Masangkay, peace and order committee chairman, a copy of his resignation letter.
At least five names have cropped up as initial candidates for CPPO director. They are Senior Supt. Zosimo Magno, Patrol 117 deputy director for Visayas and Mindanao; Senior Supt. Nievo Rodriquez, PRO 7 personnel and human resource division chief; Senior Supt. Amaron Morrok, CPPO deputy chief; Supt. Salvador Sanchez, PRO 7 headquarters commandant and Talisay City Police Chief Cecil Izra Sandalo.
For her part, Arroyo said the principle of command responsibility was “applied strictly” when seven top police officials were sacked from their posts.
She vowed to institute a wider revamp of the national police, bolstering speculations that more heads will roll if illegal gambling activities continue to persist.
“This is a dress rehearsal, as far as I am concerned, for applying the rules of command responsibility more strictly on the more challenging issues of kidnapping and (illegal) drugs,” Arroyo said.
The sacking of the seven police chiefs had stunned the public since some of them had played key roles in the uprising that toppled Estrada and installed then vice president Arroyo in his place.
In many instances, the police are perceived as protectors of crime gangs.
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