Mayor worried over spate of Pasig killings

Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio said he is worried that investors could shy away from his city should the spate of killings continue to go unchecked in the coming days.

Eusebio said the peace and order situation in Pasig City remains manageable as he urged the local police to immediately take appropriate actions to solve cases to allay fears of investors.

"A number of investors are asking me why the local police force is weak," Eusebio said. "But that is for the local police to answer and not me."

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) earlier suspended Eusebio’s police powers due to his order to demolish the dismantled shabu "tiangge" in the Mapayapa compound in Barangay Sto. Tomas.

Since the raid last Feb. 10, Eusebio said, several major crimes have been committed in the city, including the murder of businessman Leonardo Umale last March 16, the ambush-slaying of Chief Inspector Renato Marasigan on Mar. 29, the slaying of SPO3 Ramon Borre last Mar. 26, and the killing of PO3 Ramon de Leon last Apr. 1.

"Pero manageable pa rin ang peace and order situation dahil maganda naman ang pakikisama namin sa mga investors. Inaagapan ko na mag-alangan ang mga investors. Pinipilit ko na ‘wag silang mag-alala," Eusebio stressed.

He blamed the re-training of local policemen to Subic, Zambales as the major reason why the peace and order situation in his city has been unchecked.

Senior Superintendent Romeo Abaring, Pasig City police officer-in-charge, lamented that seven of his precinct commanders are undergoing retraining at the Values and Reform School in Subic.

"Pilay talaga ang deployment namin," he said. "Apektado ang police visibility at beat patrol namin."

A total of325 Pasig City policemen were ordered to undergo a 15-day re-training program by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao because of the shabu "tiangge" debacle.

Meanwhile, Eusebio said Eastern Police District (EPD) director Chief Superintendent Charlemagne Alejandrino has submitted the list of five candidates for the post of Pasig City police chief, which includes Abaring.

The four others were Senior Superintendents Agrimeo Cruz, Danilo Pelisco, Leo Garra and Alex Gutierrez. Cruz and Pelisco are the spokesman and personnel head of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO), respectively. Garra was sacked as Caloocan City police chief while Gutierrez is on floating status at Camp Crame.

Eusebio said he wanted his police chief to support his campaign against illegal drugs. – Non Alquitran