Marikina City Mayor slammed for not supporting cops

MANILA, Philippines — The local chief executive whom the Philippine National Police (PNP) earlier criticized for committing “childish acts” is Marikina City Mayor Marcelino Teodoro.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Director Major General Guillermo Eleazar revealed this on Tuesday after PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde criticized a mayor in the Eastern Police District (EPD) for allegedly withdrawing support to cops in his area.

Albayalde did not mention any names, although the EPD only covers four cities: Mandaluyong, Pasig, San Juan, and Marikina.

READ: PNP chief hits ‘childish acts’ of NCR mayor for not supporting cops

“Yes,” Eleazar told reporters in a text message when asked if the PNP chief was referring to Teodoro, as he explained that there were no similar incidents reported in the three other cities in the EPD.

Albayalde earlier said the mayor he was referring to may have been irked because he was not informed that the chief of police was promoted to a new post and that a new acting chief was assigned in the city.

On March 21, Col. Roger Quesada, former Marikina City police chief, was promoted to chief of the directorial staff of the Police Regional Office in Mimaropa. Col. Redrico Maranan replaced him as acting chief.

READ: Marikina City gets new police chief

Under the law, local chief executives may choose who will be appointed as chief of police in their area from the list of officers recommended by the PNP.

Albayalde, however, explained that the PNP may also assign an acting chief even before the mayor assigns a permanent top cop in the municipality.

Eleazar said that Teodoro, in response to the PNP’s move to appoint a new police chief, allegedly canceled the gas assistance for police mobiles for a day. The amount was returned the following day, but it was only a third of the regular gas allowance.

The mayor also reportedly stopped providing ordinance violation receipts to the Marikina City Police and had even ordered to tear down the tarpaulins of Albayalde and Eleazar with the hotline numbers of NCRPO.

Eleazar said Maranan did not heed the order.

The NCRPO chief said it’s high time that the public is made aware of the the actions of Teodoro who is seeking a second term as mayor of Marikina City.

He added that the NCRPO will report the issue to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for possible action.

‘Unfair statement’

In a phone interview with reporters, Teodoro denied the accusations and said it might tarnish the relationship of the local government unit (LGU) and the law enforcement agency.

“Palagay ko hindi naman childish acts ‘yun. Masyadong unfair yung statement (I think those were not childish acts. The statement was unfair),” he said. “We are not withdrawing anything. No. That’s not true.”

“Ang totoo, ‘yung pulis kasi namin may natatanggap talagang gas allowance from the city as support from the city, as assistance. And as assistance, it’s not mandatory naman, pera ng city ‘yun eh,” he said.

(The truth is that the local police really receive a gas allowance from the city as assistance. And as assistance, it’s not mandatory; it’s the money of the city anyway.)

According to Teodoro, he was only proposing to Maranan to assess the amount that the local police were receiving for  from the national headquarters of the PNP for their gasoline supply so the amount needed will be split with the LGU.

“Palagay ko na-misconstrued ng bagong hepe (I think the chief misconstrued it),” he said, adding that Maranan also does not coordinate with him.

“Wala eh, ni hindi nagpupunta sa city hall. Ang pinapupunta ‘yung kanyang officers (He does not go to the city hall and instead sends his officers),” said Teodoro.

He also urged Albayalde and Eleazar first to verify the information they receive about him before releasing it to the media.

INQUIRER.net has yet to receive comment from Maranan as of posting time. /ee