North Cotabato cop chief relieved from post

The provincial police chief of North Cotabato was relieved from his post after the bloody dispersal of farmers last week in Kidapawan City.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Ricardo Marquez ordered the removal of Senior Supt. Alexander Tagum from his post as provincial police director, almost a week after the protest.

He was replaced by Senior Supt. Jose Briones Jr., the regional chief of the directorial staff of the Soccsksargen police regional office.

“It’s quite routine that we relieve commanders pending the results of the investigation. I issued a directive to relieve Tagum effective Wednesday,” Marquez said.

Tagum was the ground commander of the police team that cleared a national highway in Kidapawan City of protesting farmers who wanted aid because of the severe drought that destroyed their crops.

The PNP chief said the relief is a matter of procedure, noting that it was confirmed that some policemen deployed in the area fired their guns. Three persons were killed and over a hundred were wounded.

“There is already an acknowledgment that some personnel deployed in the law enforcement operation fired their weapons,” Marquez said.

He added that the PNP was now waiting for the results of the investigation to find out the policemen’s reasons for using their firearms.

Earlier, the PNP sent a fact-finding team to Kidapawan. The team is led by Director

Isagani Nerez, the chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao.

Other members of the team are Senior Supt. Felix Servita, Senior Supt. Daniel Macatlang, Supt. Rainiero de Chavez and Supt. Danilo Macerin.