Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Roderos asks Mandaue dads to file request
IF OPPOSITION leaders in Mandaue City want Senior Supt. Rodel Calungsud and Supt. Vicente Mersan Premne out, they will have to formalize their requests.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos told reporters yesterday that he won’t take any action until then.
Calungsud, the Man-daue City Police Office director, and Premne, his deputy, have been accused of framing Dr. Paulus Mariae Cañete, who was arrested Thursday night for allegedly hiring someone to steal documents from the Mandaue City College.
However, most of Cañete’s allies do not believe he is capable of doing such a thing.
Roderos said the letter should specify the allegations so they can launch an investigation “in fairness to all parties concerned.”
As for the background of Premne, Roderos said the officer is currently not facing any administrative case.
“He was promoted to superintendent. If he reached that rank, it means he has a very good background because he got promoted,” Roderos said.
The Philippine National Police does not approve the promotion of officers with pending administrative or criminal cases, even if these cases are job-related.
This was his reaction after he was asked about Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna’s earlier statement about receiving dossiers on Premne and that even Roderos knew about his background.
Regional Intelligence Division (RID) Chief Augusto Marquez Jr., for his part, said there were several complaints against Premne.
He declined to say what these were about, saying these were confidential in nature. He stressed though that none of the complaints were verified or substantiated.
Marquez said that before Premne was reassigned to Mandaue City, he served at the Philippine Center for Transnational Crimes and the Regional Mobile Group.
He was once assigned at the RID and was chief of operations under Marquez. He was also with the Cebu City Police Office in the early 1990s.
As for the allegations of a frame-up, Roderos said the case is now with the city prosecutor, an independent body, and that they could determine if there was probable cause to elevate the case to the courts or to dismiss the charges against Cañete.
Police filed a case of illegal possession of firearm against the school official. (MEA)
