ESPENIDO
President Rodrigo Duterte may have said he will solve the illegal drug problem in the country within six months.
Chief Insp. Jovie Espenido yesterday made a similar pronouncement: that he would solve the illegal drug trade in Cebu within a month.
“Dali raman sulbaron ang drugs, suma gud, na-assign ko sa Albuera, Leyte, usa ka buwan ra na nato. Na-assign ko sa Ozamiz ako na gani na gitagaan og lugar g’yud, naabot og unom ka buwan, kanang wa dayon nato operate na, kay gitagaan nato’g demokrasya, diplomasya, ang atua mo-surrender sila, apan wa man na nila himua, aw gihatagan nato sila og unom ka buwan. Nga nakadakop ta og gatus kapin ka mga pusher, nga maoy nagtudlo nga ang mga drugs, di lang kutob estorya, ang mga drugs, tinuod g’yud gikan sa mga Parojinog,” he said in a phone interview.
(Solving the drug problem is easy. As you have seen, I was assigned in Albuera, Leyte, I did it in one month. I was assigned in Ozamiz City, I gave them a leeway of six months. I did not operate on them because I employed diplomacy. I wanted them to surrender but they refused. Well, I gave them six months. I was able to arrest more than a hundred pushers who revealed that the source of the drugs were really the Parojinogs.)
Espenido has expressed his desire for an assignment in Cebu.
He described drug problem in Cebu as rampant based on the daily and weekly police accomplishment reports on their war against illegal drugs.
And if given the chance to work in Cebu, he said he will surely go after the “drug lords.”
He said he was grateful that many Cebuanos on social media; want him to be assigned in Cebu and to go after those behind the illegal drug trade.
But he also clarified that he was not choosy over an assignment.
“Ang ginoo ra nahibalo. Dili g’yud mi pwede magpili mi sa PNP, unsay ihatag sa akoa, God’s will na.” he told reporters.
(It’s up to God. We in the PNP cannot choose our assignments. Whatever is given to me is God’s will.)
Roots
Espenido, who hails from Surigao, said he stayed in Cebu for a long time, having studied in Cebu City and entered the Police Regional Office as a recruit in 1996.
Espenido said he was also assigned in Sibonga and Bogo and was also with the police team who arrested the suspects in the kidnap/slay of the Chiong sisters.
Espenido is currently in Manila to receive the Magalong Award, under the Order of Lapu-Lapu, to be given today, National Heroes’ Day. The award will be personally given by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Presidential Executive Order 35 expanded the medal classification of the Order of Lapu-Lapu to acknowledge the “valiant and benevolent acts” of government forces and civilians to ensure Filipinos’ safety and security in Mindanao amid the armed conflict in Marawi City.
The Order of Lapu-Lapu is now divided into four medals, namely Magalong, Kalasag, Kampilan and Kamagi.
The Magalong Medal is conferred on officials, government personnel and private individuals who have rendered “extraordinary service or have made exceptional contributions to the success of an activity pursuant to a campaign or advocacy of the President.”
To receive the same awards are the soldiers and Marines who died fighting in Mindanao. The ceremony will be held at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.