Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella meets with the different stations commanders and mall representatives to discuss means on how to beef up mall security. | CDND PHOTO / Gerard Vincent Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Mayor Edgardo Labella said he is not bothered by the controversies surrounding Police Major Chuck Barandog, whom he recently named as his peace adviser at the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC).
Barandog, who was chief of the Cebu City Mobile Force Company (CCMFC), was controversial during the May 2019 mid-term elections after he was named as the killer-cop by former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Osmeña accused Barandog of harassing his supporters during the campaign period.
The former mayor also claimed that Barandog was responsible for killing two tanods (village watchmen) and a female supporter in Barangay Lusaran while the CCMFC served a search warrant for loose firearms in the suspect’s home last February 2019.
Labella, who sits as RPOC chairperson, said he is not bothered by these issues surrounding Barandog.
He said Osmeña’s allegations were raised at the height of the elections.
The mayor said he needed a man that has the “track record” to intensify the campaign against illegal drugs.
In choosing his RPOC adviser, Labella said he needs someone as “relentless” as Barandog who is not afraid to implement the full extent of the law.
Labella said he also wants Barandog to help him with the peace and order in Negros Oriental since insurgency remains to be the biggest problem in the area.
As chairperson of the RPOC in Central Visayas, Labella said he was mandated by President Rodrigo Duterte to look after the peace situation in the region, especially in Negros Oriental province, where the army continues to have encounters with rebels.
“There is a perception that there is a prevalence of insurgents in Negros Oriental. Major Barandog has some kind of experience of the situation and that will help me,” said Labella.
The mayor said he will be moving around the region in the next few months to check on the peace and order situation in the towns and cities of the region so the RPOC can formulate ways to help solve any peace and order problems. / celr