Palace on Sinas: Duterte already made a pronouncement

Published May 20, 2020 11:07 AM By VIRGIL LOPEZ,GMA News

Malacañang on Wednesday declined to elaborate on President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision not to remove Metro Manila’s top cop, Police Major General Debold Sinas, amid allegations the latter violated quarantine protocols. 

“As the President’s spokesperson, I only articulate President Duterte’s thoughts on the matter. I cannot add or subtract from what the President has said,” Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said. 

Sinas and other police officers are facing criminal charges

since the mañanita held on May 8 to mark his birthday allegedly flouted the ban on mass gatherings and the social distancing rules amid the COVID-19 pandemic.  

However, Duterte on Tuesday found no reason to remove Sinas from his post, saying it was not the police official’s fault that his colleagues serenaded him on his birthday. The President also said Sinas is a good and honest policeman. 

Duterte’s defense of Sinas put into question the sincerity of the government’s drive against quarantine violators with Senate Minority Franklin Drilon claiming it might erode public confidence in the ability of the coronavirus task force and the police to enforce the rules. 

“I leave [it to] the public to judge,” Roque said in an interview on ANC when asked to respond to the credibility concerns.

Sinas apologized to the public last week but claimed that some of the photos circulating online were edited and grabbed from old posts. —KG, GMA News

View on GMA News