‘HAPPY VALENTINES’: PNP chief still mum on Espenido’s inclusion in narco-list

By Jennifer P. Rendon 

Is Police Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido, the government’s “poster boy” in the war on illegal drugs, really included in President Roa Rodrigo Duterte’s (PRRD) drugs list?

A rather evasive Philippine National Police chief General Archie Francisco Gamboa answered “Happy Valentines.”

Gamboa was in Iloilo City Saturday to visit the wake of Police Captain Efren Jr., the team leader of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6 (RMFB-6) Reconnaissance Company who was killed in an encounter with members of the New People’s Army in Barangay Aglobong, Janiuay, Iloilo, on Feb. 12, 2020.

Before the interview started, Gamboa said in jest that he will not answer questions related to Espenido.

When pressed why, a smiling Gamboa said, “waay ko nabal-an.” (I don’t have any knowledge.)

While Gamboa was mum on Espenido’s inclusion, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año had confirmed that the former deputy director for operations of the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) is on PRRD’s narco list and will be investigated for possible links to the illegal drug trade.

But when Gamboa was asked about his knowledge of the so-called list, he gamely answered that he asked the President to give the PNP a chance to evaluate and validate its officers.

“So out of the PRRD list, we extracted active members of the PNP. Kaya meron tayong 357,” he said.

Gamboa added, “But then again, they are presumed innocent.”

The nation’s top cop said he already second-guessed that people might ask why they did not file charges against personnel on the so-called narco list.

“Kasi nga, the information derived, that’s why they are on the list, is not enough to stand in court or even in administrative proceedings,” he said.

Given the scenario, Gamboa said two things would happen: either they will be cleared because the information is not true or the information is true, thus the need to exert effort to build cases against them.

By case build-up, he explained that they will gather evidences so that they could file cases against them in court.

Earlier, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) said they were not told why Espenido was relieved and subsequently reassigned to the Office of the Chief PNP (OCPNP).

Aside from Espenido, also relieved from PRO-6 was Lt. Col. Mannan Muarip, the Regional Headquarters Support Unit 6 (RHSU-6) based in Camp Martin Delgado, Iloilo.

Espenido and Muarip were among the 15 police officials relieved by the national headquarters on Feb. 5.