Lina orders PNP to probe Cotabato City policeman’s death

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday to look into the death of a Cotabato City policeman who had exposed the alleged illegal activities of the city’s police chief.

Responding to the appeal of Fr. Eliseo Mercado of Notre Dame Cotabato, Lina directed PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza to dig deeper into Thursday’s death of SPO1 Aljerico Llorente whom Superintendent Amerodin Hamdag, Cotabato City police chief, said was shot dead by one of his (Hamdag’s) aide.

Llorente earlier had implicated Hamdag in the operations of illegal gambling and illegal transport terminals in the city.

"Let us dig deeper and find out the truth behind this unfortunate incident and take appropriate action against those who may have had a hand in Llorente’s death," Lina said.

Apparently unaware of Lina’s order, Muslim and Christian religious leaders in Cotabato City urged President Arroyo and Justice Secretary Hernando Perez yesterday to intervene in the case.

Indignant sectors in the city are now preparing for what could be a hero’s burial for Llorente.

"If President Arroyo and Secretary Perez will not intervene, our trust and confidence in the city police will be totally eroded. The incident was so serious. Malacañang should do something about it," said Hadji Omarshariff Macapadu, a Maranaw preacher.

Members of Central Mindanao’s Catholic community have also criticized Chief Superintendent Manuel Raval, Region 12 police director, for having allegedly "ignored" previous petitions for the ouster of Hamdag due to his (Hamdag’s) lackluster performance and failure to curb illegal gambling.

"Hindi na sana humantong sa madugong pangyayari kung hindi nagpabaya ang tanggapan ni Gen. Raval sa mga hinaing ng mga tao dito sa Cotabato City (It could not have led to a bloody incident if only Gen. Raval’s office heeded the grievances of the people of Cotabato City)," said a Catholic missionary, who asked not to be identified.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema said he has asked the National Bureau of Investigation to initiate a separate probe of Llorente’s death and help the city government prosecute Hamdag and his escorts if it would be proven that they killed the victim.

"We are now focusing our utmost attention on the case. It was a very unfortunate incident," Sema said in a press conference.

Hamdag claimed that Llorente opened fire at them first while he was inspecting the police station at Rosary Heights.

"He shot me first when he saw me. It was just fortunate that I was not hit and my escort succeeded in returning fire even before I could pull out my pistol," Hamdag told Catholic station dxMS after the shooting incident.

The animosity between Hamdag and Llorente started last week when the former accused the city police chief of "protecting" gambling syndicates and operators of illegal transport terminals.

Claiming he was Hamdag’s collector of "protection money" from gambling rackets, Llorente distributed to various media outlets last weekend a sworn statement detailing Hamdag’s alleged illegal activities. — With Perseus Echeminada