After Ozamiz mayor, more lined up for arrest, says police director
POLICE DIRECTOR-General Ronald M. dela Rosa yesterday warned that more politicians suspected to be involved in the illegal drug trade will be arrested in pursuit of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s war against crime and drugs.
“There will be more. Just wait. Again, to be fair with them, with these people, that should serve as a warning to everyone… As far as law enforcement is concerned, we have no fear or favor,” Mr. Dela Rosa said in an early Monday press briefing.
The police chief’s pronouncement came on the heels of the Sunday 2:30 a.m. raid at the house of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo O. Parojinog, Sr. The mayor, his wife, his brother, and 12 others were killed in that operation.
His daughter, Vice-Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog-Echavez, and son Reynaldo Parojinog, Jr., along with several others were arrested following the raid. They were flown to Metro Manila yesterday where they will be facing charges. The siblings are currently detained at the police headquarters.
Concerns on possible human rights violations in the police operation have been raised.
Mr. Dela Rosa, however, defended that Mr. Parojinog, his clan, and security personnel were meant to be “operated upon,” meaning to be arrested, and “not liquidated.”
Police officials who carried out the raid claim that the Parojinog camp resisted arrest by starting a firefight with authorities.
“I know that they are meant to be operated upon, not to be liquidated. But it depends if they will resist, then we will really have an encounter. We no longer have control in that anymore, if that is the case,” Mr. Dela Rosa said.
Senior Supt. Roel B. Obusan, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) that carried out the raid, said they complied with security and legal protocols.
“That is why we have an arrest. We are not meant to kill, only those who still resist. We have also arrested eight more, especially armed men who surrendered. Thus, it erases the doubt and the claim of the [Parojinog] lawyer that they are meant to be liquidated because it is really not our intention,” Mr. Obusan said at the press conference.
“We really intend to bring them to justice for them to answer the justice alive. But they have maintained a private army. We are fired upon before entering the premises. We have an injured policeman from the firefight,” he added.
Moreover, Mr. Dela Rosa said: ”I want him (the mayor) alive, to answer the charges, but if he resisted then I want my men alive more than him. After the smoke is cleared, it should be the good man standing and the bad man lying in the pavement.”
CHR PROBE
Meanwhile, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Jose Luis Martin “Chito” C. Gascon said they will conduct an investigation on the incident.
“We will ask our regional office to deploy a team of investigators as soon as possible to conduct their own separate probe into the matter. They will employ the established protocols in conducting a human rights based investigation. I hope that the team will not encounter difficulty and will have the cooperation of both the police units that were involved in the raid as well as other persons that could help shed light on what happened,” Mr. Gascon said via text message to BusinessWorld.
He also clarified that the CHR does “not oppose police efforts in applying appropriate means to enforce criminal law” but that “they must at all times adhere to established police operations procedure.”
Mr. Gascon added that they “welcome support from both domestic and international actors that may contribute to ensuring that human rights standards are adhered to in all instances, particularly in the context of the current administration’s implementation of its war on drugs.” — Jil Danielle M. Caro
