「日刊まにら新聞」ウェブ

President Rodrigo Duterte publicly ordered on Monday Police Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido not to hesitate to kill another suspected drug lord in Iloilo province if necessary.

In a speech during the commemoration of the National Heroes' Day at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, Duterte said Espenido, currently Ozamiz City police chief, will be reassigned to Iloilo.

Espenido, who was given the Magalong Medal during the National Heroes' Day commemoration, was previously assigned in Albuera, Leyte where its mayor Rolando Espinosa Jr., a suspected drug lord, was killed in an alleged shootout inside a jail in November 2016

He then was reassigned to Ozamiz City where its Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, also suspected drug lord, and 14 others were slain on July 30 as police implementing a search warrant allegedly were fired upon.

Espenido was conferred an award for his contribution in the Duterte administration's intensified campaign against illegal drugs during the Philippine National Police's foundation anniversary,

Departing from his prepared speech, Duterte said, "Espenido, where are you? Stay there, it's okay. I will ask you again. You asked for the assignment in Leyte. The mayor there died.

"You asked for another assignment in Ozamiz, the mayor there, Parojinog, died. Now you want in Iloilo because Mabilog has been identified as a (drug) protector. The mayor, could he be alive?," he said, referring to Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Duterte said he asked Espenido because he would again be accused that he ordered the killing of another suspected illegal drug protector.

"But if you do the country a favor, I will support you. Then we all go to jail, do not worry. Just follow the rules of engagement, the requirements of the performance of duty, which you have learned in your PNP (Philippine National Police)...in all those years," Duterte said.

He reminded the policemen murder, homicide or any unlawful killing is not allowed.

"But in the performance of your duty, tell your men that whenever their life is in danger and they are in the actual performance of a duty, your duty requires you to overcome the resistance of the person you are arresting," Duterte said.

"Not only just shouting at them to surrender, because if he does not, and he resists, and it is a violent one, placing in jeopardy the lives of my policemen, and of course, the military, you are free to kill the idiots. That is my order to you. Always in the performance of a duty.

"Because if there is violence, then you have to overcome that violence to bring him to the folds of the law, and you can put him under your custody. But if he resists, and if it is a violent one, I hate to see dead policemen and soldiers performing their duty. Do you hear me? Your next assignment is Iloilo," Duterte stressed.

In an ambush interview after the ceremony, Duterte said he would reassign Espenido to Iloilo so "he should replicate his exploits in other parts of the country."

The Duterte administration has been criticized for alleged extrajudicial killings amid the war on drugs.

The recent alleged rub out of 17-year old Kian Loyd delos Santos in Caloocan City during an anti-drug operation drew public outrage against the policemen and the Duterte administration as a whole.

Duterte has promised not to interfere in the case of those Caloocan cops and he would allow them to go to jail if they are convicted from the charges filed against them. Celerina Monte/DMS