The wife of slain cop PO2 Romeo Jumalon denied the reports that her husband was an ‘aide’ or ‘driver’ to retired police general Marcelo Garbo Jr. in 2011.
Sunnie (not her real name) told Cebu Daily News that her husband worked under the anti-illegal drugs team of Garbo, who was then the director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7).
However, she said that her husband had no involvement with the alleged drug actives of the general.
Garbo was named as a drug protector or narco-general by President Rodrigo Duterte in July 2016, along with retired Chief Superintendent Vicente Loot, now the mayor of the town of Daanbantayan in Cebu; Police Director Joel Pagdilao; and Chief Superintendents Edgardo Tinio and Bernardo Diaz.
Garbo denied the allegations and dismissed them as merely politics as he supported another presidential candidate for the May 2016 elections.
Garbo’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
“When my husband found out that he (Garbo) was a narco-general, he cried, because he felt that he was used by General Garbo,” said Sunnie.
Sunnie also denied that Jumalon went AWOL in 2012 and said that the cop was suspended following a drug operation.
She refused to divulge particular details of the suspension case.
Sunnie added that when President Duterte sat in office in 2016, the case was dismissed and Jumalon was able to return to the service.
“I think that the suspension was without grounds. It took that long because the past administration was not as supportive to the anti-illegal drugs campaign as the President (Duterte),” said Sunnie.
Sunnie revealed that for the four-year gap that Jumalon was out of the police force he took many jobs including driving a taxi in order to provide for the family.
“My husband was a generous giver, a moral man, a strict and loving father but he was no aide to a narco-general,” she said.
Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Alvin Llamedo, chief of the Talamban Police, said that the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has sent its Investigation, Detection, and Managment Branch (IMDB) to help the Talamban Police Station in the investigation of Jumalon’s death.
“The CCPO is already helping us. They are taking over the investigations on Jumalon’s background especially the cases he faced as a police,” said Llamedo.
Llamedo said they already have a copy of the suspension order of Jumalon in 2012. The details of which, he refused to divulge while the investigations continue.
“We are getting many leads in the case. With two units working, we may find out the reason for his death a bit faster,” he said.
“We have the suspension order. We can now trace if he really worked as an aide to the former general,” he added.
Jumalon was on his way to attend the Misa de Gallo (dawn Mass) when he was shot dead outside his home on Sunday (December 23) dawn.
He was recently assigned to the Regional Service Group of the PRO-7. Prior to that, he served at the Regional Personnel Holding Administrative Office (RPHAO) since 2016.