Lina told: Look into new info vs Mendoza

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina to look into "new information" filed against acting Philippine National Police chief Deputy Director General Leandro Mendoza.

The President, however, clarified that this new inquiry is only part of standard operating procedures that are undertaken when new complaints are brought to her attention.

Lina earlier had cleared Mendoza of the first complaint raised by Carina Agarao, head of the Citizens Against Violence (CAV), and Teresita Ang-See of the Citizens Against Crime and Corruption (CACC).

Agarao accused Mendoza of allowing the jailed suspect in the killing of her husband, lawyer Clarence Agarao, to escape from a Laguna jail, while Ang-See questioned Mendoza’s alleged "compulsive gambling."
"I think Secretary Lina’s analysis have been quite fair," the President said of Lina’s decision to clear Mendoza. "(But) now, there is new information that came out. So I asked him to look into it."

"Let’s just say that whenever there are reports, you do not ignore them," Mrs. Arroyo added. — Marichu Villanueva