Cebu police chief bows to pressure, replaces Dumanjug police chief

CEBU CITY, Philippines – On the eve of election day, gunfire broke the silence in Dumanjug and left two men injured last Sunday night.

A bullet grazed the stomach of Marlon Ybañez, a supporter of Vice Mayor Efren Guntrano Gica, while Ei Amadora, one of Mayor Nelson Garcia’s councilors, was hit by shrapnel in the right foot. (READ: Shooting, threats in Cebu town)

The incident also resulted in the relief of Insp. Rogelio Amoroso as the town’s police chief yesterday.

Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Clifford Gairanod said he replaced Amoroso with Chief Insp. Petronilo Gracia to appease Mayor Nelson, who had accused Amoroso of being biased for the Gicas.

In the meantime, Amoroso will serve as the town’s deputy chief.

Gairanod said he discussed the move with the Garcias, Police Regional Office 7 Director Patrocinio Comendador and the Commission on Elections. 

Not surprised

Amoroso said he was expecting to be relieved. “Mas maayo ang bag-ong hepe aron dili sila makaingon nga bias ang investigation sa PNP (With a new chief, at least they can’t accuse the police of being biased in their investigation),” he said.

Mayor Nelson of One Cebu and Gica of the Liberal Party are battling it out for the mayoral seat.

Exasperation over the alleged bias of the local police in favor of the Gicas prompted Winston Garcia, the mayor’s brother and One Cebu’s gubernatorial candidate, to offer a P50,000 and a P200,000 reward for the arrest of armed goons, and for the arrest of an armed candidate or an armed member of the Gica family, respectively.

Winston told reporters yesterday that most of their complaints against armed men and harassment of their political foes had not been acted on.

Winston said this emboldened the chief of police “who seemed to be in cahoots with them [Gicas].”

“I commend [Police Regional Office 7 officer-in-charge] General [Patrocinio] Comendador for responding. Within an hour, nagpadala og tao (he sent men) to calm the situation,” Winston said, referring to last Sunday’s night incident.

He and and his brother Pablo John, who is running for Congress in the seventh district against Provincial Board Member Peter John Calderon of LP, announced they would file charges against Amoroso and the town police.

Pablo John, who is registered in Barangay Bitoon, said armed men in the town are so bold because they have police on their side.

Account of events

“Grabe diri (It’s really bad here), using force and violence with the cooperation of the police,” he said.

He said they have long demanded for the relief of Amoroso, but police higher-ups ignored their pleas.

The confrontation took place at 9:50 pm last Sunday in front of the Garcias’ house in Barangay Ilaya.

Gica insisted that his men were not armed when the shooting took place, but the mayor said that couldn’t have been the case since one of his men was hit in the foot.

Both camps vowed to file charges.

Based on Amoroso’s account, Gica’s men were onboard a vehicle, while Amadora and a certain Saromines were onboard separate motorcycles.

The two groups got into an argument after Amadora caught Gica’s men filming their activities.

Who fired first?

They drove on and stopped in front of Garcia’s house.

Based on the footage from the closed-circuit television camera inside the house, which is now in police custody, a man later identified as Gorio Torres came out of the house and walked toward the metal gate. He fired a shot at a man Amoroso believed to be Ybañez.

The footage also showed Torres’s companion, also armed, coming out of the house and seeking cover behind the gate.

Amoroso said they have yet to determine who fired first, as they could not establish if Ybañez and his companions were armed. He said the group was far from the camera and partly hidden.

He said doctors discouraged police from talking to Ybañez, to allow the patient to rest. – Rappler.com