TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) –- The town police chief of Albuera, Leyte said he has not done anything to threaten Mayor Rolando Espinosa, whose son, Kerwin is a top drug lord in Eastern Visayas.
This was Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido’s statement in response to the mayor’s claim that he left the town because of death threats from the police official issued on July 22.
“Why threaten him? We are police and we are protectors. I should have killed him instead of scaring him because it’s not an attitude of a police to frighten someone,” Espenido said.
The town police chief recalled that two hours after he was assigned to Albuera, he got a call from Espinosa, who bared his plan to surrender.
“I asked him why he would surrender. He said he would do it since he was told that he’s on the drugs watch list,” Espenido said.
The mayor was then asked to bring his son instead, but the mayor said it was impossible for Kerwin to surrender since he’s been abroad, according to Espenido.
After few days, the mayor’s daughter called up the town’s police chief, informing them that the mayor changed his mind about yielding to authorities since he has not committed any crime.
“He reportedly left Albuera July 22 until I saw him on TV after surrendering at Camp Crame,” the official recalled.
Espenido hinted that the mayor is scared because he’s done something unlawful.
The official even cited bible passages from Proverbs 28:1 in criticizing the mayor – “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
Asked whether the local police can assure the safety of the mayor upon his return, he said: “He can come back because people voted for him, but one can assure of his safety 24 hours especially on Saturday because I am at church.”
Police provincial director Sr. Supt. Franco Simborio said Espenido is the most qualified official to lead the Albuera police
station.
“Between the last quarters of 2015 until July 2016, we have assigned four town police chiefs to Albuera until we found the right man for the right job,” Simborio said.
Espenido recalled that before he came to Albuera, the local police are Kerwin’s friends. “He always showed up at the police and brought meals and refreshments for the police.”
The new Albuera police chief is a known “drug buster cop.” He was born in 1968 in San Miguel, Surigao del Sur where his biological family currently stays.
He is married to Shiela Bandal from Tubod village of Isabel town in Leyte where his family currently lives.
He is a licensed criminologist with background in electronics.
Espenido entered the police service on Sept. 16, 1996 assigned in Regional Mobile Group in Negros Oriental. (PNA)
SARWELL Q. MENIANO
