Bacolod City—President Rodrigo Duterte is “very much aware” of the assignment of Maj. Jovie Espenido to this city, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.
“I was told that the motivation of the President is to help Bacolod. I believe Bacolod is very close to the heart of the President. That is why there’s that special attention,” the mayor said in a press conference on Monday afternoon.
Considering that Espenido’s expertise is in the campaign against illegal drugs, Leonardia said he believed his presence here was “meant to intensify, expand, and maybe hasten” the efforts of the city police.
“He is welcome. Drugs continue to be a big concern although the local police is doing well if you think in terms of its performance,” he added.
The police’s latest major drug hauls here included the P1.2 million worth of suspected shabu seized from two suspects inside a motel in Barangay 6 on Friday and P300,000 worth of the same prohibited substance from two other suspects in Barangay 2 on Sunday.
Last week, Lt. Col. Joem Malong, spokesperson of Police Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas), confirmed Espenido’s transfer to the region from PRO 10 (Northern Mindanao), and the plan to assign him to the Bacolod City Police Office.
Malong said the Bacolod police is the region’s best performing unit in the campaign against illegal drugs, and Espenido’s presence could strengthen the police efforts.
Espenido’s last assignment was as chief of the Ozamiz City Police Station, and he is expected to report to the PRO-6 headquarters in Iloilo City this week.
He became a celebrated police officer in the government’s war against drugs after leading the operations against suspected narco-politicians, such as Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa and Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog.
Espenido was the chief of police in Albuera when Espinosa, who was detained as a drug suspect, was shot dead inside the sub-provincial jail in Baybay City in 2016.
He was then transferred to Ozamiz, where Parojinog and 14 others were killed during a shootout with policemen in a pre-dawn drug raid.
Malong said that regional police director, Brig. Gen. Rene Pamuspusan, has given city police director, Col. Henry Biñas, the discretion to assign Espenido to a position commensurate with his rank.