A HIGH-RANKING police official will support Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Edgar Alan Okubo if the latter will relieve Superintendent Anthony Bagarinao, the police chief of Toledo City, Cebu.
Chief Superintendent Jose Mario Espino, Police Regional Office-Central Visayas director, said police officers are expected to perform their duties well as their salaries have been increased.
"Ang word ko nga sa kanila no mercy dapat ngayon. If they are found absent, they make the proper report and they will penalized. The minimum penalty for that is three days suspension without pay para mabawasan yung laki ng suweldo nila," he said
Espino said Bagarinao is not excluded from being penalized, after Okubo found out that 25 Toledo City cops were not present in the police station on Sunday morning, January 14.
The police station chiefs, he said, should be included in the investigation because they are the immediate supervisors of the erring personnel.
Okubo have ordered the relief of Senior Police Officer 4 Henry Acosta, Toledo City Police Station's chief clerk, for his failure to supervise the 25 personnel.
Acosta also failed to answer the inquiry of the Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch.
Last Sunday, Okubo and his personnel visited the police station for a station visit.
He was surprised after no one opened the gate and the door of the police station.
Espino said the closed door and gate are "aggravating circumstance" of the police officers' offense.
Bagarinao said they will face the investigation.
Okubo had earlier relieved the 12 police officers of Talisay Police Station deployed for New Year's Day security after they went on vacation without permission.
These officers went home after he visited the station in a surprise inspection last December 30. (KAL/VoxPop Cebu)