CAMP Crame removed Senior Supt. Jose Macanas as head of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) after he was implicated as one of the officers who allegedly accepted payola from suspected drug kingpin Kerwin Espinosa.
Police Regional Office (PRO) Director Noli Taliño confirmed that he received the relief order yesterday from the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management.
He also said that the CPPO, during Macanas’s watch, was one of the top-performing units in the anti-illegal drug drive. Macanas served Cebu Province for a little over two months, after replacing Senior Supt. Clifford Gairanod in the middle of July.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III was surprised by the order to relieve Macanas, which he heard about from Taliño.
Taliño reportedly told the governor that Macanas was implicated by Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Kerwin’s father. Macanas headed the Ormoc City police office before he was assigned to Cebu.
“Tingali naglagot ang mayor because he was responsible for the arrest of Kerwin sa buwangan, with firearms (Perhaps the mayor was angry because Macanas was responsible for Kerwin’s arrest in a cockpit, with firearms),” Davide told reporters.
Davide said he thought Macanas was doing well as head of the province’s police force.
‘Sayang’
“Sayangan ko ba, maayo kaayo siya og performance (I’m sorry to see him go because he was performing so well),” the governor added.
Earlier this week, two former police officials from PRO 7—Supt. Rex Derilo and Supt. George Ylanan—were included on a list of 18 police officials allegedly accepting payola from self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones. Sabalones gave the information himself.
Senior Supt. Eric Noble of PRO-Ilocos Region was directed to sit as the new provincial police director, starting next week. Sun.Star Cebu tried to call Macanas’s cell phone yesterday, but he could not be reached.
A source from the police said that Senior Superintendent Macanas was in Camp Crame yesterday to answer the allegations against him.
Macanas also reportedly denied to Taliño the allegations against him, saying the Espinosas have had an axe to grind against him since Kerwin was caught last March 5, 2015.
For now, however, Kerwin is out on bail and at large. His father, the mayor, previously went to Camp Crame to deny an allegation that he coddled a drug lord.
Surprised
For his part, Taliño admitted he was surprised by the relief of Macanas because the CPPO is the top performer in Oplan Tokhang.
“Kasama doon sa listahan na binigay ni Mayor Espinosa yata. Pero wala akong ideya kung ano ang listahan na yun, basta yun lang ang nakarating na information sa akin (It seems he was on the list that Mayor Espinosa submitted. I have no idea what that list contains, though),” said Taliño.
From July 1 until Sept. 30, teams under the CPPO visited 25,226 houses of suspected drug users and pushers.
Records in PRO 7 showed that 30,876 users surrendered, while 2,301 pushers promised not to sell illegal drugs anymore.
A total of 1,727 drug pushers and 38,061 users surrendered to the police offices of Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Siquijor, and Bohol.
“In fairness to him (Macanas), he has accomplished a lot in Cebu Province. In fact, top performer yung Cebu dito sa ating Double Barrel project at Tokhang. Pati sya nagulat din siya bakit may pangalan siya doon (Cebu Province is the top performer in our Double Barrel and Tokhang projects against illegal drugs. He was also surprised that his name turned up on that list),” said Taliño.
