Ozamiz police chief: If you’re involved in drugs, resign to live longer

Ozamiz City Police Chief Inspector Jovie Espindo inside his office during the interview with Journalists Monday July 31 in the afternoon 12 hours after the raid. (Photo by : Richel V. Umel, Inquirer Mindanao)

To local officials involved in illegal drugs waiting for his planned reassignment from Ozamiz City, its City Police Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido advised them to resign if they want to live longer.

“Kung saan ako malagay, resign na lang, kung involved (in illegal drugs), para humaba buhay (They should resign if they are involved in illegal drugs if they want their lives to be spared),” Espenido told reporters Thursday.

Espenido led the simultaneous raids on the houses of the Parojinog clan last month that led to the death of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, his wife Susan and 13 others.

Coincidentally, Espenido was the police chief of Albuera in Leyte when its mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was in prison for illegal drugs trade, was killed, along with fellow inmate Raul Yap. But he was not involved in the actual operation that killed the two.

Espenido, who visited the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday for another case told reporters that it is up to the Philippine National Police (PNP) to determine his next assignment.

He said he is only following the orders of his superiors in the PNP.

Earlier, PNP Director General Ronald Dela Rosa said he will transfer Espenido to another area with the “next target.”

Dela Rosa said the PNP will validate the possible areas where Espenido may be transferred. JE