Editorial: A chief with a clean record

(Editorial Cartoon by Josua Cabrera)
(Editorial Cartoon by Josua Cabrera)

CEBU City Police Chief Royina Garma, 45, counts her days in the city. By July, her cop career concludes. She will be head of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, according to reports. Her stint in Cebu City has been one colored by her spat with outgoing Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and a good number of unsolved killings in Cebu City. She exits with memories of daylight extrajudicial killings strewn in many spots and at various times in the city.

So the season of choosing the next police chief is here again, and while there is a bit of relief that maybe the next one might be better, there is also anxiety that it could be worse.

Under the Local Government Code, it is the mayor who recommends his preferences for police chief, but it is Camp Crame that has the final say on who eventually gets the assignment. Mayor-elect Edgar Labella pretty much made it clear in a SunStar Cebu interview. He said he wants one possessing dignity, dedication to service and a commitment to fight criminality. But the catch comes this way: “not involved in summary killings.”

We applaud Labella, a lawyer, for being clear this early in his distaste for anything beyond the rule of law. That automatically translates as official policy and should there be any case in the city contrary to that, we expect the mayor to quickly register his dissent. Labella said he also prefers a police chief who is firm against illegal drugs and who can keep corruption away in the police force.

Meantime, three prospects float in the grapevine, namely: Col. Lito Patay (current chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Central Visayas; Col. Marvin Marcos (head of CIDG in Eastern Visayas; and Col. Angela Rejano (chief of Siquijor Provincial Police Office).

Patay and Rejano, reports say, were Garma’s classmates in the Philippine National Police Academy Class of 1998.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Chief Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas prefers another policewoman to head the city police. Women, he said, are incorruptible. With the named prospects, there is of course Rejano.

Patay, on the other hand, earned the reputation of heading “the deadliest police station” in Quezon City from July 2016 to July 2017 when at least 108 persons were killed. It was reported that the core composition of the unit’s anti-drug command came from Davao City. Before getting the Quezon City post, Patay headed several police units in Davao del Norte.

Marcos is something else. He was among those implicated in the killing of drug lord Rolando Espinosa Sr., town mayor of Albuera, Leyte, inside his cell at the Provincial Jail in Baybay City, Leyte.

Espinosa’s son, confessed drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, accused Marcos of asking P3 million from his father to fund his wife’s political campaign in exchange for police protection. Marcos was reinstated in July 2017, headed the CIDG in Soccskargen, and is now back in Eastern Visayas as CIDG 8 chief.

Patay and Marcos don’t seem to fit the mold as far as Labella’s preferences are concerned.

We do hope Labella decides to pick a chief with unblemished record. His city and his fresh leadership deserve nothing less in the next three years.

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