OZAMIZ City police chief Jovie Espenido said on Saturday that he is willing to be reassigned to Central Visayas Region.
"Akong i-ampo na. Bisan napulo ka pirma o usa ka gatos nga pirma. Number one, Cebu man ko produkto maong dali na nato masulbad, samot kay naay Ginoo nga mutabang nako," Chief Inspector Espenido said in an interview with reporters on Saturday, August 26, after his speech in a religious program of the Seventh-day Adventist Church at Miller Hospital in Cebu City.
“Kung tugutan lang, ako nang gihangop nga ma-assign (sa Cebu), bisan asa basta naa’y challenge ba (God willing, I would welcome an assignment in Cebu or anywhere, for as long as there’s a challenge),” he said.
The Ozamiz City police chief said he discourages unnecessary means in the campaign against illegal drugs.
In his speech, Espenido said that Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa asked him to admit to the allegation that he had received P20,000 from suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa in Albuera, Leyte.
He said that certain generals made the accusations against him. “But in the end, the truth prevailed through God’s guidance. Jovie didn’t accept any drug money,” Espenido said.
Espenido was the officer who led the drug raids in the Parojinog residences last July 30 that killed Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., his wife, and 14 others.
The raids also resulted in the arrest of Ozamiz City Vice Mayor Nova Parajinog and brother Reynaldo Jr. over drug related charges.
Before he was assigned to head the Ozamiz City police, Espenido was the chief of the Albuera police in Leyte when then town mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. was shot dead by Criminal Investigation and Detection Group agents inside his detention cell in Baybay City in November 2016.
Both mayors Espinosa and Parojinog were among the government officials accused by President Rodrigo Duterte last year of narco-politics.
Espenido has received an award from the government for his "accomplishments" in line with President Duterte's war on drugs. (VoxPop Philippines, JOB)