The commander of the Binondo Police Community Precinct in Manila was sacked following the discovery of a drug den just a few steps away from the police station.
Chief Inspector Luis Guisic was placed on floating status upon the recommendation of Police Station 11 head Supt. Amante Daro.
Chief Insp. Roy Calulot replaced Guisic.
The drug den was discovered when Mayor Joseph Estrada, accompanied by Daro, conducted clearing operations in Binondo, including the Muelle de Binondo Bridge.
The operator of the drug den, Robert Regio, 50, was arrested. Several illegal drug paraphernalia were confiscated. Region denied being a drug pusher.
“This is unexpected. We were surprised. We will ask the chairman here. Chairmen know who are addicts, pushers, and even drug dens in their barangays,” Estrada told reporters.
Daro said it was unlikely that Guisic did not know about the existence of the drug den operating just a few steps from his office. The Binondo precinct on the edge of the Muelle bridge.
But Guisic said he was not aware of the drug den because it was in the middle of shanties under the bridge.
Hundreds of stalls owned by illegal vendors along Juan Luna and Santa Elena streets were destroyed during the clearing operations.