Cebu City police chief sacked over Navarro slay

CEBU CITY—The director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has been relieved from her post pending investigation of the killing of Mayor David Navarro of Clarin town, Misamis Occidental, while he was being escorted by the police to the prosecutor’s office here on Oct 25.

Police. Col. Gemma Vinluan would be placed on “floating status” at Camp Sergio Osmeña, the headquarters of the Central Visayas regional police.

Geovanne Maines, the regional police’s deputy director for operations, would take over Vinluan’s post.

“The move (Vinluan’s relief) would spare us from perception of a possible whitewash or that we are covering something,” Police Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, director of the Central Visayas police, said on Thursday.

Welcomed
Vinluan would return as CCPO chief once the policemen who escorted Navarro during the killing would be cleared of security lapses, De Leon said.

In a text message, Vinluan said she welcomed the relief order. “I somehow expected it. I already said that the Cebu City Police Office was open for an investigation to find out if we had lapses during the incident,” she said.

De Leon said the relief order took effect on Wednesday when the National Bureau of Investigation took over the probe of Navarro’s killing.

On Monday, President Duterte instructed the police to stop their probe and to let the NBI take over, saying that the police may be involved in the slay of Navarro.

Navarro was killed while being transported by the police to the Cebu City prosecutor’s office for inquest proceedings. At least four masked men, carrying high-powered firearms, dragged Navarro out of the police car and fired at him in Barangay Guadalupe here.

The incident happened a day after Navarro was arrested by the police for allegedly mauling a masseur in a parlor in uptown Cebu City. —REPORTS FROM DALE G. ISRAEL AND NESTLE SEMILLA