Illustrations by Rene Elevera
Jovie Espenido
Police Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido had his controversial past dredged up when President Rodrigo Duterte ordered him to “kill everybody” when he cleans up Bacolod City, which, the President said, was “badly hit” by the scourge of illegal drugs.
Though Interior Secretary Eduardo Año downplayed the order as mere exaggeration, it recalled Espenido’s bloody record as a police chief.
In 2016, Albuera, Leyte, Mayor Rolando Espinosa was killed in his cell by police operatives under Espenido’s watch.
When Espindo was transferred to Ozamiz City in 2017, a series of predawn raids by the police led to the killing of Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and 14 others tagged in the narcotics trade.
As if to preempt speculations on similar killings, Año said police operations should observe the rule of law.
Debold Sinas
Police Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas said he wouldn’t change many of the policies in the National Capital Region Police Office set by his predecessor and classmate in the Philippine Military Academy, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar.
What Sinas wanted was to place more women police officers as head of the 17 police stations in Metro Manila, similar to what he did as regional director of Central Visayas.
Sinas introduced an all-female police station in Siquijor and had at least seven women commanders of police offices during his term.
Despite that push for gender equality, his term in Central Visayas was marked by more killings.
The Commission of Human Rights noted that Region VII ranked fourth in the most number of drug-related killings.
Archie Gamboa
As acting chief of the Philippine National Police, Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa took over the post vacated early by Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde amid allegations of his involvement in the controversial drug operation in 2013 that so-called ninja cops — police accused of pilfering illegal drugs seized from operations — pulled off in Pampanga.
Gamboa set down a set of stricter policies for the police force, including reviving the golf ban on weekdays to take police away from the influence of politicians and big businessmen who frequent golf courses.
Gamboa is one of three contenders for the post of PNP chief, along with Lt. Gen. Camilo Cascolan and Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar who are the third and fourth-highest officials currently in the PNP, in the wake of Albayalde’s resignation.
Rhenz Abando
Celebrity status can come at the intersection of success and notoriety. This is where Rhenz Abando finds himself these days.
The lanky kid from La Union first made waves with his raw athleticism that fueled the University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) race to UAAP’s basketball glory. Abando next hit the headlines when his basketball prowess made him the target of a poaching attempt midseason by an unidentified school that reportedly offered him P3 million, a condo unit and jobs for his relatives, if he transferred to that school’s UAAP team.
Abando later said he didn’t intend to leave UST at all. But the controversy refuses to die, as the poaching try raised a question most student athletes grapple with: How thin is the line separating student-athletes from paid pros?
Nesthy Petecio
Assured of a silver and facing a local bet in a sport notorious for hometown decisions, Nesthy Petecio could have easily coasted in her final match in the 2019 Aiba Women’s World Boxing Championship at FSK Sports Complex in Ulan-Ude, Russia.
Instead, the proud Davaoeña struck first and firm as she ruled the featherweight division by defeating Russian Liudmila Vorontsova by split decision.
Suddenly, the poor girl who used to live in a shanty became the recipient of a financial windfall from the government and the private sector.
Petecio’s first item on her spending list? The renovation of the family home in Tuban, Davao del Sur.
“I know how it was to live in a makeshift house exposed to the elements before I became a national boxer,” she said.