Mayor’s murder stains PNP image, says Lacson

TOWN HALL ATTACK Members of the Central Visayas police’s Regional Mobile Force secure the town hall of Ronda, Cebu, several hours after Mayor Mariano Blanco III was shot and killed by armed men who barged into his office. —TONEE DESPOJO / CEBU DAILY NEWS

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the gangland-style execution of Mayor Mariano Blanco III of Ronda town, Cebu province on Wednesday reflected badly on the Philippine National Police.

“Purge of so-called ‘narcopoliticians’ or not, the killings of town executives in the manner as brazen as gangland execution style should be more than a subject of concern,” Lacson, a former PNP chief, said in a text message on Thursday.

The brazen killing could mean the police did not do their job or were in cahoots with criminals, he said.

Either way, the PNP does not look good, he added.

“Either they are a failure, or some elements are themselves involved, either as complicit or direct participants. Either way, it does not speak well of an institution primarily tasked to protect lives and property,” he said.

Task force formed

Blanco was shot dead by armed men who barged into his office while he was sleeping there early on Wednesday.

He had been staying in his office after President Duterte included him on the list of local officials supposedly involved in the drug trade.

The PNP has formed a body to look into Blanco’s assassination and security lapses committed by Ronda policemen.

Senior Supt. Benigno Durana Jr., PNP spokesperson, said the special investigation task group (SITG) would have to investigate why the town’s policemen failed to respond to the attack and why the mayor was apparently not given sufficient security.

Durana said the SITG, headed by Senior Supt. Manuel Abrugena, Cebu police director, was looking at politics as a primary motive behind the killing, but pointed out that all possible angles were being investigated.

Cops relieved

In Cebu, the director of the Central Visayas police has ordered the immediate relief of the commander and at least eight officers of the Ronda police station who were on duty on Wednesday when Blanco was killed.

Chief Supt. Debold Sinas said Senior Insp. Jay Soto Palcon and eight of his men should relinquish their posts in Ronda and report to the Cebu provincial police office starting on Thursday.

“I have to relieve the chief of police of Ronda and all those on duty that night following allegations that they did not respond accordingly,” Sinas said.

“We have to relieve them to determine whether they committed some lapses. They have to explain what happened,” he added.

Serving warrant

Blanco died from five bullet wounds. The shooting happened just 5 meters from the police station.

Past midnight on Wednesday, seven Ronda policemen, led by their precinct commander, reportedly went to Barangay Vive, about 5 kilometers from their station, to supposedly arrest a man who was charged in court with stealing a rooster in 2006.

But before they reached the place, the operatives received a call from fellow policemen that Blanco was killed by unknown assailants inside the town hall. This reportedly prompted Palcon and his men to return to the station.

Only two policemen were left in the station and did not respond to the shooting at the town hall. —REPORTS FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA, ADOR VINCENT MAYOL AND JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE