Mandaue officials look into alleged coverup by police
February 06, 2009 12:00 AM
CEBU - The Mandaue city council will be inviting Police Regional
Office-7 director Ronald Roderos and OIC Mandaue City Police Office
director Orlando Ualat to shed light in the attempted coverup of the
suspect in the killing of a call center employee two weeks ago.
Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna said that the council would also want to know
what caused the relief of Investigation and Detective Management
Bureau (IDMB) chief Eddie Recamara days after his team arrested
Jonelle Enfectana, the principal suspect in the killing of Lynn Vi
Ebarita inside a room of Nikkei Garden Hotel last January.
Chief Insp. Recamara was relieved from his post as IDMB chief
effective last Wednesday and he now heads the Casuntingan Police station.
He was replaced by Supt. Jason Capoy.
Fortuna said that the move to invite these police officials came after
they received information that the investigating team was pressured by
some officials within the PNP organization to withhold the findings
and eventual filing of murder charges against Enfectana.
He added that the transfer of Recamara only boosts the suspicions.
Fortuna said that aside from the city council, Mayor Jonas Cortes
should also initiate the move to invite these officials to shed light
on the alleged attempt to cover up.
"While we respect the right of the suspect, we will not approve of
interventions. If they can do it in other areas, we will not allow
that they will do it in our city. We will also protect our men and
women who have made a break in this crime investigation, " Fortuna said.
Fortuna further said that the council will pass a resolution in their
session next Tuesday urging Ualat to retain Recamara in his post until
all evidence will be gathered and that Enfectana's four alleged
cohorts will be arrested.
Sources said that some "police officials" coming from Police Regional
Office-8 called their counterparts at the MCPO urging them not to
arrest and pursue the filing of murder charges against Enfectana.
The alleged intervention of these police officials reportedly also
caused the delay in the arrest of Enfectana last week.
Last Monday, Eric Pagar, a former media personality who also
facilitated a press conference in behalf of the Enfectana family, told
reporters that a politician friend from Borongan, Eastern Samar has
asked help in behalf of the family.
The politician is said to be a "godmother" of the suspect. The family
of the suspect, however, denied the claims that the politician was
pressuring the Mandaue city police in their investigation.
City Councilor Diosdado Suico also received a letter yesterday coming
from Vicente Enfectana, the victim's father asking for the retention
of Recamara as he is worried because the case is still on-going and
other suspects are still at large.
In a separate interview, Ualat yesterday said that he was unaware of
the alleged attempt to cover-up involving his men.
He even urged those who believe so to file a formal complaint before
his office so that he can take immediate action.
Ualat said that the only pressure that they got was to arrest the
suspects immediately.
He said that the relief of Recamara was part of a normal rotation of
key positions. This also came because just recently the higher
headquarters reassigned a police official with a rank of a
"Superintendent" for MCPO.
Meanwhile, Mayor Cortes said that he knew nothing about the relief of
Recamara and will still talk with Ualat about it.
-freeman
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