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ILOILO CITY: Newly appointed Iloilo police provincial
office (IPPO) director, Senior Supt. Melvin Mongcal, apologized to
Gov. Niel Tupas for the storming of the Iloilo provincial capitol on
January 17.
Mongcal on Wednesday paid Tupas a
visit. Tupas accepted his apology “for the sake of the public,”
but stressed that what happened must never be repeated.
Mongcal, 44, told Tupas that
among his priorities would be ensuring public safety, lives and
properties. He would also be campaigning against terrorism and
criminality, and beef up police intelligence. He also said that he
would work for peaceful elections in the province.
Tupas earlier said he would be protesting the appointment of Mongcal
to the IPPO, citing the January incident.
At the time of the capitol siege,
Mongcal was the commander of the Police Regional Office 6’s (PRO
6) regional operations and planning division (ROPD).
Mongcal told Tupas Wednesday that
he did not like what happened and hoped that it would not be
repeated. He said he was merely following orders.
But Mongcal stressed that his
opinion was his personal sentiment and did not necessarily reflect
the position of the Philippine National Police.
The PNP maintains that there was
nothing irregular in the policemen’s storming of the capitol
supposedly to remove Tupas on the orders of the Department of the
Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Office of the
Ombudsman.
Fully armed policemen took over
the provincial capitol and used force to disperse Tupas’
supporters on January 17 despite DILG’s 48-hour ultimatum for
Tupas and his supporters to vacate the building. The deadline was
supposed to end on January 18.
Because it is now an election
period, it was the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that appointed
Mongcal to the IPPO. Tupas earlier expressed misgivings that he was
not informed of Mongcal’s appointment.
On Wednesday after meeting
Mongcal Tupas said he had no choice, but to welcome the IPPO officer
in charge.
“I respect the decision of the
Comelec. If I won’t, ang pumuluyo sang probinsya sang Iloilo ang
magasuprer,” he quipped.
Still, Tupas said the complaints
he filed before appropriate agencies against Mongcal and other
police officials would continue.
The Comelec approved the
appointment of Mongcal as officer in charge of the IPPO on March 8.
Mongcal takes over the post of
Senior Supt. Joel Napoleon Coronel, who has been reassigned to the
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at the National Capital
Region.
On the other hand, Supt. Ruperto
Floro of the Iloilo City Mobile Group (ICMG) takes over the post of
Mongcal as ROPD chief.
Supt. Danilo Piña of the Iloilo
City police office takes over the position of Floro at the ICMG.
--Panay News
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