Bohol cop relieved for failing to arrest drug lord

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The police chief of Getafe town in Bohol has been ordered relieved for failing to arrest a notorious drug lord residing in one of the island-villages of the town.

The relief of Senior Insp. Marcelino Mejias will take effect on Wednesday although his replacement has yet to be named.

Chief Supt. Patrocinio Comendador Jr., police director for Central Visayas, said Mejias was ordered removed from his post for failing to arrest suspected drug lord Rowen “Yawa” Secretaria and his folllowers.

Mejias will be sent to the Bohol Provincial Police Office where he will wait for his next assignment, said Comendador.

“For so long a time, Yawa’s group has been operating in his (Mejias) area of jurisdiction. I want to know why they were not arrested when the Getafe police office is just a 20-minute boat ride away from Banacon Island where Yawa was operating,” Comendador told reporters.

Sought for comment, Mejias explained that Secretaria didn’t stay on Banacon Island for a long time.

“To be honest, we had a hard time monitoring Secretaria. He seldom visited the island. And if he dropped by, his visit would not take long,” said Mejias in a phone interview.

He, however, said he would comply with the relief order issued by Comendador.

Secretaria and his two alleged cohorts—Dario Torremocha and John Jason Montes—were killed in a shootout with Cebu-based police operatives on Banacon Island last Saturday.

A witness claimed that Montes, a 22-year-old native of Barangay Ermita in Cebu City, raised his hand in an apparent act of surrender but police operatives still shot him.

Montes’ mother on Monday requested the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an investigation on her son’s death. TVJ/rga