Napolcom ordered to launch parallel probe into Espinosa slay
Interior Secretary Mike Sueno has directed the National Police Commission (Naplocom) to conduct a parallel investigation on the alleged shootout between Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and policemen inside the Baybay sub-provincial jail in Leyte on Saturday.
“While the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service (PNP-IAS) has automatically started its own investigation, it is still necessary for Napolcom to get into the picture to lend integrity and credibility to the probe,” Sueno said in a statement on Monday.
Sueno said that while he has no doubts with the probe the IAS will conduct, “the public might not trust the results of an investigation which is conducted as well by policemen.”
The secretary said the police search inside the jail left many questions unanswered.
“Was there really a shootout? Was there coordination with the regional and provincial police offices? Why was the search warrant hastily served too early on a Saturday morning?” he said.
As chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Sueno co-chairs the police regulatory body. The Napolcom is mandated to conduct pre-charge investigation on erring cops.
He said the Napolcom has the legal and moral ascendancy to initiate its own probe to determine the culpability of the concerned police officers considering that it is the agency mandated to exercise administrative and operational supervision over the PNP.
“The Napolcom should make this probe as their top priority. We have to know what really transpired on that day. We owe the family of the slain inmates and the public a factual and detailed account of the incident,” said Sueno.
Meanwhile, IAS deputy inspector general Chief Supt. Leo Angelo Leuterio said the PNP is also investigating the manner how the police implemented the search warrant against Espinosa and his fellow inmate.
“The mere fact that the victim was in the custody of authorities, mere fact that it should be a routine service of warrants, and then it lead to the death of the person in custody of the authorities of which we are getting information as to the illegal drugs trade in the particular area, makes it imperative for us to look into this,” Leuterio said in an interview.
Leuterio said they are investigating 17 individuals, who were members of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and regional maritime unit of the Eastern Visayas regional police.
“Ano ang nature ng search warrant? Sino ang nag-issue? Anong specific things they are trying to retrieve, to search” This will fall under the investigation na ginagawa ng internal affairs service,” he said.
If the IAS will discover lapses on the side of the police, he said the operatives involved may be charged with grave misconduct and will face possible dismissal from service.
“We assure you that if there is irregularity here in the death of the mayor, we will be recommending the dismissal of these people from the PNP service,” he said.
