Robredo: Who will now police the police?

Vice-President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA — “Who will police the police?”

This was the question raised by Vice President Leni Robredo on the killing of Abuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr., who was shot dead by law enforcers who claimed the local chief executive tried to fight back while detained at a provincial jail.

In her statement, Robredo condoled with the family of Espinosa.

For Robredo, the circumstances of Espinosa’s death showed a “peculiar context” and raised “a lot of questions” on the official account of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on how the mayor ended up dead while being served a search warrant for illegal drugs and illegal firearms right inside his jail cell.

Robredo, a lawyer, said that the “unlawful event even puts into question the integrity of the institution.”

“Thus, we ask: who will police the police?” Robredo said.

The Vice President said the investigation into the killing of Espinosa should be “thorough, fair, and swift, and to ensure that no whitewash will happen.”

“We cannot afford the further erosion of our people’s trust in our justice system if those who take the law into their own hands are not found and prosecuted,” Robredo said.

She stressed: “We hope that this is not an indication of a nation failing to uphold the rule of law and a sovereign unable to protect its own citizens. We need to reinforce the trust of the people in our judicial system.”  SFM