Escudero wants disqualification of execs who refuse to abide by removal order

Sen. Francis Escudero FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Temporary or permanent disqualification should be included among the penalties for public officials or government employees who refuse to comply with a removal order, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said.

Escudero said this concerning the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs’ investigation into the alleged inhumane and violent acts perpetrated by law enforcers against Bonifacio, Occidental Mayor Samson Dumanjug.

“Temporary or permanent disqualification to run and hold public office must be added as a penalty against those who refuse to obey an executory legal suspension/removal order vs. any public official or employee, elected or appointed,” he told reporters on Saturday evening.

READ: Senate probes alleged violent acts by PNP vs Misamis Occidental Mayor Dumanjug

According to Dumanjug, he was “forcibly” removed from the Mayor’s Office of Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and unknown persons last June 16.

He claimed that the force physically broke the windows of his office; disarmed and ordered his police escort to lie face-down on the floor; aimed high-powered firearms at him; forced him to a wheelchair, and bounded his hands and feet to the said wheelchair; wrapped his head with a malong (cloth); and boarded him in an ambulance.

Escudero said these incidents could have been prevented if only the town’s police chief “acted immediately, instead of taking the side of the suspended mayor.”

He likewise said that the police force “should not shrink from its duty to enforce the law as well as legal orders simply because it is politically charged.”

“Not to mention the unnecessary requirement in the PNP manual of getting the chief PNP’s approval in executing/implementing such orders, especially when the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) itself has already recognized the mayor’s suspension,” he added.

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JPV