Padaca wants Isabela police chief sacked over Comelec exec slay
Expect poll-related violence to worsen in Isabela following the death of a local Commission on Elections (Comelec) executive in the province, Governor Grace Padaca said on Saturday.
Padaca linked the killing of Isabela election supervisor Michael Valdez to some unresolved poll-related incidents in the province, saying these could continue because of the police’s alleged inaction to solve the crimes and the existence of armed groups for hire sowing violence during election period.
“What happened (was) terrible but not totally unexpected, and something like it may happen again sometime soon," Padaca said in a statement referring to the shooting of Valdez by unidentified assailants at a hotel in Tumauini town on Saturday.
She said the latest incident might have something to do with the 2004 burning of election returns in San Mariano and Jones towns. “More than five years have gone by and the case is still unresolved," according to the governor.
Padaca blamed Valdez’s killing on the alleged inaction of acting Philippine National Police (PNP) Provincial Director Jimmy Rivera, who “has not been directly communicating" with her office for more than four months now.
The governor said she, a number of Isabela mayors, and local government officials “have lost our trust and confidence" in Rivera.
“If he is truly doing his job, he must know of these intelligence reports too but since he has been practically ignoring me as the province’s highest civilian authority," she said.
Padaca appealed to PNP chief Jesus Verzosa and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to immediately relieve Rivera from duty.
“Something like this brazen crime may happen again soon and as governor of the province I am deeply concerned about how things will turn out if the DILG/PNP leadership continues to downplay or even ignore the situation which I have brought to their attention," she said.
“With the killing of…Valdez… our province needs a PNP provincial director who, at the very least, should be neutral and who should be an agent of peace which we Isabelinos now more than ever badly need," added Padaca.
The governor said that police colonel Tony Marallag updated her Saturday night that they are zeroing in on suspects who are natives of the locality where Atty Valdez was killed.
"If the crime will eventually be attributed to a group other than the one I mentioned earlier, it still does not change the fact that there really is an armed group in the province of Isabela which becomes more active during election season and that my worry about them and the kind of provincial director we have remains," she said.
She added that Col. Marallag is PNP-Isabela's intelligence officer with whom she is communicating instead of Rivera.
Six of 35 towns in Isabela have consistently been on the PNP list of election “hotspots" since 2001 because of the number of election-related violence incidents in these areas. [See: RP towns consistent poll hotspots] - ANDREO C. CALONZO, GMANews.TV
Padaca linked the killing of Isabela election supervisor Michael Valdez to some unresolved poll-related incidents in the province, saying these could continue because of the police’s alleged inaction to solve the crimes and the existence of armed groups for hire sowing violence during election period.
“What happened (was) terrible but not totally unexpected, and something like it may happen again sometime soon," Padaca said in a statement referring to the shooting of Valdez by unidentified assailants at a hotel in Tumauini town on Saturday.
She said the latest incident might have something to do with the 2004 burning of election returns in San Mariano and Jones towns. “More than five years have gone by and the case is still unresolved," according to the governor.
Padaca blamed Valdez’s killing on the alleged inaction of acting Philippine National Police (PNP) Provincial Director Jimmy Rivera, who “has not been directly communicating" with her office for more than four months now.
The governor said she, a number of Isabela mayors, and local government officials “have lost our trust and confidence" in Rivera.
“If he is truly doing his job, he must know of these intelligence reports too but since he has been practically ignoring me as the province’s highest civilian authority," she said.
Padaca appealed to PNP chief Jesus Verzosa and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to immediately relieve Rivera from duty.
“Something like this brazen crime may happen again soon and as governor of the province I am deeply concerned about how things will turn out if the DILG/PNP leadership continues to downplay or even ignore the situation which I have brought to their attention," she said.
“With the killing of…Valdez… our province needs a PNP provincial director who, at the very least, should be neutral and who should be an agent of peace which we Isabelinos now more than ever badly need," added Padaca.
The governor said that police colonel Tony Marallag updated her Saturday night that they are zeroing in on suspects who are natives of the locality where Atty Valdez was killed.
"If the crime will eventually be attributed to a group other than the one I mentioned earlier, it still does not change the fact that there really is an armed group in the province of Isabela which becomes more active during election season and that my worry about them and the kind of provincial director we have remains," she said.
She added that Col. Marallag is PNP-Isabela's intelligence officer with whom she is communicating instead of Rivera.
Six of 35 towns in Isabela have consistently been on the PNP list of election “hotspots" since 2001 because of the number of election-related violence incidents in these areas. [See: RP towns consistent poll hotspots] - ANDREO C. CALONZO, GMANews.TV
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