DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 6 Aug)— Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte said he will give Col. Hansel Marantan, the acting city police director, chance to prove his worth to lead the city’s efforts towards peace and security.
“Basin diay, basin diay motrabaho siya. Basin wala pod siya’y mahimo. Naa man na siya diri gatrabaho tas hadlok man pod tanggalon. Ibutang lang nato sa ingon-ana (Maybe he will do his job. Maybe he has no choice. He is here to do his job, and afraid that he will be relieved. Let’s leave it at that),” Duterte told reporters after his state of the city address Tuesday afternoon.
On July 8, or 22 days after Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III took over as director of the Police Regional Office -Davao Region (PRO-11), 19 station commanders of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) were relieved during in reshuffle.
Two days later, Col. Lito Patay assumed as city police director in the morning but was replaced at noon by Col. Sherwin Butil. In the evening, Marantan was named acting city director.
It was a decision by the Philippine National Police national headquarters in Camp Crame, confirmed Maj. Catherine Dela Rey, PRO-11 spokesperson, who added that it was just a part of the “normal process” of relief of police officers.
But when asked why there was a fast turnover of officers in DCPO, she said she could provide no details for the reason.
However, Duterte said he “will have to wait and see” of what could be the effect of these recent movements.
“Para nako lang, kaning city director nato karon [Marantan], I want to give him a chance,” Duterte said during his state of the city address Tuesday afternoon.
He emphasized anew that he has not been consulted by the new PRO-11 officials, but he did not mention Torre.
“We will have to wait and see kung unsa bay epekto ani. Pero baga ang politika karon, lisod (But with the politics now, it’s difficult),” the mayor said.
He said that he is now satisfied with the current peace and order situation of the city. “As long as the police would continue to preserve the obvious status quo,” then he has no problem with the police.
Torre said last week that among the reasons for the relief of police officers were the “manipulated blotters” in the police stations to make it appear that Davao City has low crime rates. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
