FORMER Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo raised concerns after eight police officers in Davao City were temporarily relieved from their positions following a buy-bust operations that resulted in the deaths of seven individuals.
“Now, what will happen there— the police officers will be afraid to do their job because they might be removed from their positions and even jailed,” said Atty. Salvador Panelo – Former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel.
According to the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), they have been disarmed and placed in the DCPO Holding Center while investigations are ongoing.
The deaths of the seven individuals occurred a few days after Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte declared war on drugs in the city last month.
Panelo expressed dismay over the reaction of former PNP Chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda, Jr.
“Every police operation has an incident report provided. Gen. Acorda— when he recently retired, we don’t know if he received the incident report or not. He didn’t mention anything, he immediately relieved them.”
“And his question there, I laughed and got annoyed. Why resort to violence, I said you were the former PNP Chief. Why ask such a question?” said Atty. Salvador Panelo, Former Presidential Legal Counsel.
On the other hand, instead of being relieved from their duties, Panelo stressed that the police officers should be commended for their performance. He challenges the new PNP chief.
“My challenge to him, return them to their positions. Don’t relieve them. If you want, investigate first—and there’s an incident report, know what happened and why guns were involved there,” said Panelo.
Earlier, General Rommel Francisco Marbil— the recently-appointed PNP Chief, said he will focus on fighting against illegal drugs.
