PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa on Tuesday, October 29, expressed confidence that President Rodrigo Duterte has not lost trust in the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Less than 24 hours after the President gave an order for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to take over the investigation into the killing of Clarin, Misamis Occidental mayor David Navarro in Cebu City, Gamboa said they turned over to the NBI all pieces of evidence related to the case.
He said the President's order to stop their investigation and turn over the case to the NBI is not a sign of distrust and loss of confidence in the PNP.
“No because alam n’yo being the commander-in-chief merong prerogative. Ano ang intention probably ng President bakit nya nilipat sa NBI? Impartiality and any commander-in-chief can do that so we take it as it is,” he said in response to a question if he thinks that the decision of the President is a slap to the PNP.
“No. No. No (it's not a sign of loss of confidence and trust),” he added.
Duterte on Monday questioned the police's lack of response to the Navarro ambush. He raised the possibility that the police was behind the killing.
Navarro, who was on Duterte's narco list, was shot dead while in police custody in Cebu City on October 25, 2019.
The mayor was wearing a bulletproof vest and was being transported in a police vehicle to the Cebu City Prosecutor's Office for an inquest proceeding over a complaint for slight physical injuries filed by a massage parlor attendant when attacked.
He was seated between his town's police chief and his sister when a white van blocked them and men with long firearms fired at their vehicle, then pulled him out and shot him in the head.
The Clarin police chief was wounded. Four other policemen in the same vehicle with Navarro failed to react and fire back. Neither did they pursue the gunmen.
Duterte had questioned the lack of response from the police officers who escorted Navarro.
“Ano ang ginawa ng PNP (Philippine National Police)? Baka sila ang pumatay. Well, anyway, nag-iimbestiga pa (What did the PNP do? Perhaps, they killed him. Well, anyway, there’s an ongoing investigation),” Duterte said.
Navarro was in Cebu City for a workshop. He went to a massage parlor in his hotel on October 23, where he figured in an altercation with a massage parlor attendant.
The attendant accused the mayor of beating him up. A female attendant also alleged that the mayor had ordered her to give him a hand job. (SunStar Philippines)