16 Albuera officers Camp Alagar-bound

By LITO RULONA
Correspondent

FORMER Albuera, Leyte police chief Jovie Espenido and over a dozen of his subordinates are expected to report for work at Camp Alagar on Monday. Their specific assignments have yet to be determined, the spokesman of the police office in northern Mindanao said on Monday night.

Supt. Surki Sereñas confirmed that Chief Insp. Espenido and 15 officers from the hometown of slain mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr.  have been assigned to Camp Alagar.

“We already received the order of their transfer here in Northern Mindanao,” Sereñas said.

But Sereñas said reports that Espenido would be sent to Ozamiz city in Misamis Occidental were merely speculations.

When they report for work here next week, Espenido and the others would receive briefings and orientations on police operations in the region, Sereñas said.

He said the specific assignments would come from police regional director Chief Supt. Noel Constatino, adding that there was no “final order” on Espenido’s  specific tasks in the region.

Sereñas said Camp Alagar was still waiting for specific instructions from Camp Crame.

Aside from Espenido, 15 other police officers coming from Albuera Police Station is also ordered to report to the regional headquarters in Northern Mindanao. Self-confessed drug dealer Kerwin Espinosa had accused that Espenido introduced him to Sen. Leila De Lima.

Espenido, meanwhile, told local radio he was supposed to report here last week but he requested National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa to move it to Dec. 19 because he still had unfinished business. He said he would be sent to Ozamiz city where he expects to carry out serious anti-illegal drug operations.

“Akong plano istoryahon ta gayud ang mayor kung Ozamiz akong new assignment, apan kung dili sila seryoso sa campaign, then ako na mismo and my men would make necessary police operations in the city,” he said.

The mayor of Ozamiz is Reynaldo Parojinog who was earlier named by President Duterte as among local officials in his so-called “narco list.”

Espenido was relieved from his Leyte post after he testified on the killing of Albuera mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and a drug syndicate in Eastern Visayas before a Senate committee. He was earlier linked to the illegal drug trade by Espinosa’s son Kerwin, a self-confessed illegal drug trader, but he was subsequently cleared Director General dela Rosa who said that the younger Espinosa backtracked.