Zamboanga City antinarcotics chief sacked over drug use

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The antinarcotics chief of the city police has been relieved and will face dismissal proceedings after he tested positive for illegal drug use.

In a statement, Philippine National Police chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, said Police Maj. Jivertson Pelovello, head of the Zamboanga City police’s drug enforcement unit, has been reassigned to the regional police office’s personnel holding and accounting section while he undergoes precharge investigation and summary dismissal proceedings.

“Anybody who will test positive for drug use does not deserve to stay in the service any minute longer,” Sinas said.

He vowed to spare no one in the PNP’s program to purge the organization of people linked to drugs.

Pelovello was among the 60 personnel of the Zamboanga City police who underwent testing by the regional police crime laboratory on Dec. 18, 2020. A confirmatory test on Jan. 6 yielded a conclusive result that Pelovello was using illicit drugs.

Police Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, regional police director, said Pelovello had been stripped of his service firearms and slapped with administrative charges. —JULIE S. ALIPALA