CAPITOL security chief Loy Anthony Madrigal said he will turn over the three service vehicles issued to him but wants to keep the service firearms for now because of threats to his safety.
¨If wa na koy armas, unsa man akong gamiton pagprotect sa akong self? Ako na lang kidhatan? (If I no longer have the firearms, what would I use to protect myself? Should I just wink at those who want to harm me? ),” Madrigal told Cebu Daily News over the phone.
He said he would ask permission from Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino and Provincial General Services Office (PGSO) chief Jone Siegfred Sepe to hold on to the firearms for now.
“I will ask but if they won’t agree I cannot do anything. But until there is no alternative yet, the firearms will stay with me,” said Madrigal, who is on 20-day leave of absence as head of the Capitol Security Unit (CSU) with an investigation looming over allegations he was having an illicit affair with his secretary, who is married.
He earlier said he made enemies as chief enforcer of the provincial anti-illegal task force where he was aggressive in field operations and checkpoints.
PGSO Asst. Chief Bernard Calderon said the request isn’t possible.
“He can’t use government-issued items because he is on leave,” said Calderon.
Madrigal was issued one shotgun, one .38 revolver, and one 9mm caliber MP9-A5, according to Calderon.
The firearms were issued to him for use in the Civil Security Unit, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources (PENRO) and the Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force.
He still has to return a black Mitsubishi Strada pickup with plate number SJC 600, a white Kia K2700 double cab and a motorcycle.
Madrigal was asked to resign by Gov. Hilario Davide III after the security chief’s relationship with his secretary was exposed in photos posted on Facebook by Medellin Mayor Ricky Ramirez, a bitter critic.
The Committee on Discipline and Investigation (CODI) will issue notices to Madrigal and his secretary this morning.
The CODI has yet to clarify whether Madrigal is “on leave” or under preventive suspension after Governor Davide declared he wanted the security chief suspended.
“Whatever happens to the firearms and the vehicles, he’s accountable for it,” Calderon said.
Madrigal earlier said he was being tailed by two unidentified armed men on a motorcycle in San Remigio last Sunday, when his pickup hit a married couple on a motorbike along the national highway in Bogo City past 8 p.m.
Golf course worker Felix Mirambel died while his wife Marites remains confined in a hospital. She will undergo another operation to install a stainless steel rod in her fractured leg.
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