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Saturday, October 21, 2006
Cebu City mayor recalls 10 police cars
CEBU CITY -- Mayor Tomas Osmeña recalled all Toyota Innova units he issued to the police following an accident involving a policeman who used one unit to bring him to a motel.
He also demanded for the policeman's transfer outside Cebu and the banishment of a rookie policeman on field training here back to his unit in Western Mindanao.
City Hall bought 30 Toyota Innova vans last month for P24.5 million for the local police's added mobility for the Asean summit in December.
The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) was initially given 10 units for its personnel's use. The vehicles were deployed to the Mobile Patrol Group (MPG).
But the mayor said he had all units sent back to the motorpool after Thursday dawn's incident.
PO2 Junicar Estiñoso allegedly used one Innova, with body number 004, to bring him to Queensland motel at 5:45 a.m. Thursday. With him was a Region 9 policeman, PO1 MC Stuart Balang, who is part of a force sent to Cebu to augment security for the summit.
With Balang behind the wheel, the Innova allegedly struck the left rear portion of a parked taxicab on Estiñoso's way out of the motel.
Estiñoso reportedly reasoned that he just used the motel's comfort room because he had loose bowel movement that time.
"They (police officials) have to kick him (Estiñoso) out of Cebu. The Innovas? They are all withdrawn (from CCPO). My very simple condition: I will allow their use when the two policemen are out of Cebu. It's not acceptable that they will just be transferred," he said.
Told that Balang, being from outside Cebu, was simply following Estiñoso's orders, the mayor said: "You follow an illegal order, I will run after your neck."
"He should have known that he was doing something illegal. The poor guy from Mindanao will be transferred back to Region 9," the mayor said.
Price
He said Toyota already assured him that it will repair the damaged vehicle "at a cost."
City Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. suggested that Estiñoso be made to shoulder the expenses.
But the mayor said he wanted the policeman punished, not because of the damage to the vehicle, but because of what he did.
"It's not so much on the damage. Toyota (representatives) told me they will repair at a cost. What is important here is to make it clear to the entire police department that if you start abusing, we will not tolerate it," he said.
For his part, Cebu City Police Chief Melvin Gayotin hopes to get back the service vehicles after Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 assured him that they will act on his request for the transfer of the two policemen.
He also went to the Mobile Police Group's office to warn senior police officers not to exploit policemen on field training. He also told the rookie cops not to allow themselves to be used by senior officers.
Probe
The Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau has yet to finish an investigation on the car accident in front of a motel, he said.
At the PRO 7, Deputy Regional Director for Administration Ronald Roderos said Gayotin's request is now in the hands of Police Regional Director Silverio Alarcio Jr., who was not available yesterday because he had an engagement in Lapu-Lapu City.
Although Balang may have been under the authority of Estiñoso, Roderos said they still need to investigate him.
In a separate interview, Gayotin said that even if Balang was just coerced by Estiñoso, he should not be afraid to turn the senior policeman in.
He said that having loose bowel movement was not an excuse to have someone who was not authorized to drive the vehicle take the wheel.
Also, if Estiñoso had business at the motel, he should have turned over the van to the MPG first.
"Nahurot na siguro ang iyang swerte. Daghan na siyag violation nga maka-lusot siya. Ang ato is just to comply. We need to discipline that guy also," Gayotin said.
Spats
Estiñoso was recently investigated for refusing to surrender his firearm to a security guard in entering a mall. He received a reprimand for that.
Earlier, he was also among the arresting officers investigated for alleged brutality against murder suspect Eugenio Corpin.
However, they were not held liable for the bruises Corpin suffered because they said bystanders who saw Corpin shoot former Biliran governor Danilo Parilla were the ones who beat him up.
The MPG has other vehicles to use as patrol cars and Camp Crame already assigned 10 new cars to CCPO as part of summit security preparations.
City Hall got the Innova vans at P819,000 each, including five percent tax, a three-year Land Transportation Office registration, a three-year warranty and free labor on maintenance for each unit for the first year. (RHM/MEA/With JPM)
(October 21, 2006 issue)
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