Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, says there was no order from the higher positions in Philippine National Police (PNP) to ambush former Daanbanyan mayor, Vicente Loot . CDND PHOTO / Alven Marie A. Timtim
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police Brigadier Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), took the “no comment” route when asked for his reaction on the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte that he ordered the ambush of former Daanbantayan mayor, Vicente Loot.
“That’s the President speaking, we could never comment on that,” said Sinas in a press conference on Wednesday, September 18, 2019.
Sinas said the President did not name any persons who carried out his orders.
Sinas said PRO-7 was not indicated as the agency that carried out the alleged orders.
“Gina-abswelto niya tanan, kay siya ang nagstorya (He relieved everyone from the allegations because he owned up to it). He is the President, he can say whatever he wants,” he added.
Sinas also denied that there was an order from someone in the Philippine National Police (PNP) to direct the ambush of the former mayor on May 2018, which also involved his wife, Maria Luisa Loot.
Malacañan Palace Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the statement of President Duterte did not actually mean he ordered the ambush.
Panelo said that Duterte misspoke in his statement and only meant to mention the past incident of Loot’s ambush and his survival of the incident.
He insisted that the President’s remark was not an admission of involvement and was only a case of language “mix up.”
READ: Panelo blames Duterte’s misspeak for Loot ambush remark
“What the President intended to say was: ‘Inambush ka na, buhay ka pa.’ That has been his line as shown by the transcripts of some of his previous speeches every time he touches on the topic of General Loot’s ambush,” he explained.
Panelo said it is “absurd and silly” to conclude that Duterte is behind the ambush of Loot just because he “misspeaks the (F)ilipino language which is not his native tongue or first language.” / celr