Three chiefs to be relieved

Three police station chiefs in Cebu will be relieved from their posts and transferred to posts in the region for failing to address illegal gambling in their assigned areas.

Police chiefs of Mambaling, Cebu City, Sibonga and Pinamungajan towns would be transferred, said Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) chief.

Garbo said he based his decision on the reports and investigation of his men proving that illegal gambling was still rampant in these areas.

Garbo said he ordered the transfer of Insp. Clyde Esguerra, Mambaling police chief; Insp. Raymundo Enriquez, Pinamungajan police chief; and Insp. Wilfredo Tautoan, Sibonga police chief for their poor accomplishments against illegal gambling in their areas.

Senior Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, Cebu City police chief, said he hadn’t received a formal order yet from Garbo except for a verbal order.

Esguerra was previously assigned in Pardo before he was transferred to Mambaling.

Buenafe said only Garbo could transfer his men outside Cebu City.

Cebu Provincial Police Chief Patrocinio Comendador also said he already received a verbal order from Garbo to relieve his men but he was waiting for the official order to implement it.

Comendador said the two police officials were doing their job but they weren’t just able to do good in stopping illegal gambling in their towns.

Comendador also said that the province had done well in the fight against illegal gambling.

Buenafe also said that he too was doing his part in the fight against illegal gambling.

Last month, the Cebu City police confiscated several video carrera, moli-moli, and pin ball machines in raids in the city. Buenafe also said that police had stopped several illegal swertes activities in the city.