Western Visayas police chief clears Espenido
Credit to Author: Darwin Pesco| Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 17:02:25 +0000
The chief of the Western Visayas police on Monday said he found no reliable information that links LtCol. Jovie Espenido to illegal drugs.
“As far as [the Police] Regional Office 6 is concerned, there is no reliable information or confirmatory report that would say that Espenido is involved in illegal drugs,” BGen. Rene Pamuspusan said in a telephone interview.
Espenido even carried out programs cracking down on illegal drugs in Bacolod City, he added.
Before he was relieved, Espenido was deputy city director for operations of the Bacolod City police.
Espenido was also the one evaluating the anti-illegal drug operations in Bacolod, Pamuspusan said.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año had claimed that Espenido was among the 357 policemen on the government’s drug list.
Espenido has emphatically denied he was involved in illegal drugs and blamed politics for his inclusion in the list.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, told Espenido to stop talking about his being on the list.
PNP chief Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa has not commented on Espenido’s case and would rather wait for the list to be validated.