Misamis Occidental Gov. Henry Oaminal has appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to order the relief of the head of the Police Regional Office 10 over the alleged resurgence of criminals in the area.
PRO-10 director Brig. Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., however, denied the accusation, saying the crime rate went down by 9.4 percent to 755 incidents from January to June this year compared to the same period in 2021.
“The allegations of some individuals that your police in Region 10 are inactive are baseless. Our record speaks for itself,” Acorda said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. “We will continue our law enforcement operations and eliminate all forms of criminalities.”
Oaminal, in a statement, said the police allegedly failed to stop the resurgence of the dismantled Kuratong Baleleng and illegal drug personalities.
“We were happy with the drug war of [former President Rodrigo Duterte], so we really supported him and the Kuratong and illegal drug personalities were dismantled. However, since they cannot hit back at PRRD, I turned out to be their target of concentration,” Oaminal said.
“And because of the political interest of our opponents, they aligned with the criminal syndicate and were able to have an ally with some police. That gave them the strength,” he added.
Oaminal claimed the inaction of the police cost the life of his running mate, former Lopez Jaena Mayor Michael Gutierrez who was killed in December during a party meeting. Joyce Pañares
“So we are hoping, with the new administration, when the police leadership will be decided, please include our police in the region, he should be pulled out, be investigated, and placed in preventive suspension,” Oaminal added.
In a separate phone interview, Acorda said he was surprised by Oaminal’s claim.
“I really don’t know where the governor is coming from. Maybe he was misinformed. If he is willing, we will be more than happy to give him an orientation as to what is happening on the ground and our accomplishments,” Acorda said.