Friday, June 27, 2008 City fire chief ‘relieved’; mayor wants to get even
THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) central office has ordered the relief of Supt. Esmael Codilla from the Cebu City Fire Station.
The orders were issued last Monday and a turnover ceremony is set this morning, said BFP 7 Director Eleuterio Iturriaga.
While at this, Cebu City Mayor-on-leave will endorse the relief of Iturriaga and will evict the regional office from the City-owned property when he gets back.
The mayor said he will make good the threat he made earlier after learning of Codilla’s relief.
Codilla is now facing grave misconduct and malversation of funds charges, but the mayor has repeatedly prevented the relief of Codilla.
“I’m just concerned about the welfare of our urban poor who are usually the victims of fire incidents. Our fire department is the most responsive department that I have seen. I’m endorsing to kick out the regional director,” he said in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cebu.
No notice
Iturriaga said that as of yesterday afternoon, he did not receive any notice from the central office not to push through with the orders, which is why the turnover ceremony will go on as scheduled.
However, at the Cebu City Hall yesterday, City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem called a Malacañang official and requested for a recall of the relief order.
“I was told that the turnover will not push through. If the BFP regional director says otherwise, then we will just wait and see, but I made a last minute appeal to recall the order and told them about the mayor’s concerns,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
Jakosalem questioned the timing of the issuance of the relief order and pointed out that it was done while the mayor is on 10-day vacation in the United States.
Chief Insp. Oscar Mayol, Mandaue City fire marshal, has been designated to replace Codilla, while the latter will act as assistant regional director for operations and concurrent chief of staff.
Decision
Iturriaga said the positions were decided upon by the BFP officers placement board in the central office.
Earlier, the BFP central office ordered the filing of criminal and administrative complaints against Codilla after the city fire station incurred more than P400,000 in debts at a gasoline station.
A fact-finding committee was created to check how the station reached the amount and they found discrepancies in the documents he submitted to them.
Tilt justice
The investigators, in their final report, claimed that they tried to “tilt the scale of justice” in favor of Codilla, believing that his work load was enormous and that he could later on explain how he incurred such debt.
However, they said they had no choice but to recommend the filing of the case as the “pieces of evidence gathered and the documents submitted could not reconcile the errors in his explanation.”
Replacement
Replacing Mayol is Senior Insp. Ronaldo Urbita, who heads the Danao City Fire Station.
Senior Insp. Randy Mendaros of the Toledo City Fire Station will take over Danao City while Senior Insp. Melchor Labrea of the Consolacion Fire Station will head Toledo City.
Mandaue City’s deputy fire marshal, Insp. Ethel Marcaja, is slated to head the Consolacion Fire Station.
Though the order arrived last Monday, Iturriaga said he was detained in Iloilo City because of the typhoon and only arrived in Cebu Wednesday to issue notices to the respective officers.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 Director Pedro Noval is today’s guest of honor and speaker.
Though there were reports that the turnover would not push through, Iturriaga said he did not receive such an order.
He said they will only retain Codilla if the national headquarters orders them to. (MEA/LCR)
