‘WE MOVE ON’

PNP chief says Cebu cops ‘among the best’; eyes his retirement in July

PNP Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina (right) recieves a token framed photo montage from Chief Supt. Orlando Ualat, OIC of the Police Regional Office (PRO7) upon his arrival at Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. in Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

Police Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina called Cebu “my second home” and reminded policemen in the region to serve with “honor” in memory of the 44 commandos who died in the Mamasapano massacre.

Here for a three-day visit, Espina saluted the regional police force as “öne of the best nationwide.”

The acting chief of the Philippine National Police who is retiring in July is visiting regional offices as part of his eventual exit, and to remind them to “go on, move forward,” despite the Jan. 25 death of Special Action Force members.

The acting chief of the Philippine National Police gave a pep talk in Camp Sergio Osmeña, where he handed out awards to outstanding policemen and inspected loose firearms confiscated in past operations.

“We suffered lately resulting in the death of our 44 people in SAF. It gave us a severe blow even affecting our emotions. Hindi biro yun .. Wala naman gustong mamatay sila . I know some of you might have been affected but I hope and I know that it is not organizationally affecting us,” Espina said.

“Lahat ng sugat naghihilum, pero alalahanin natin yan. Palaging nasa likod natin yan. Pero I hope and pray that this baggage that we carry will slowly lighten. We have to go on, we have to move forward because we owe it to the people,” he added.

The police official said “Cebu is very close my heart” because his wife is from here.  He said he was an “Espinang Batangas” while his wife, also surnamed Espina, belongs to the family that owns Espina  Village in B. Rodriguez St.

He recalled his assignment in Cebu in  1998 as regional chief of the Criminal Investigation Detection Group (CIDG) based in Gorordo Avenue for one year and three months.

Espina arrived on Friday from the Tacloban regional office and was scheduled to address the graduation in Indiana Aerospace University in Basak, Lapu-Lapu city.

He didn’t prepare a speech and chose to spoke spontaneously.

He said he considers the PRO-7 as “one of the best,  most disciplined and  most competent policemen nationwide.”

Since Cebu is a highly urbanized city, he said it has similar problems of traffic congestion and crime”kaya kinakailangan natin ang pinakamagagaling dito sa PNP,” said Espina.

He reminded them of the PNP motto –  Service, Honor, Justice.

“You reflect the entire police organization, in your beat patrol alone. Kung magaling kayo, magaling ang PNP. In the same manner, kung kayo ay magkakakaso, PNP ang may sala. So huwag kayong madamay,” said Espina.

“We are protectors of the people. If we cannot protect the people then we better get out of service. Police ka, eh. Nobody forced you to be policemen. Voluntary tayo pumunta dito, so dapat boluntaryo ang ating serbisyo,” he added.

He told the policemen to to “just do your job and you will never go wrong.

The visits to regional camps are also his way of reminding policemen that the sacrifice of the “Gallant Special Action Force (SAF) 44” should inspire them to serve the public, said Espina.

He said the 44 fallen commandos “epitomize the PNP motto : service, honor , justice.”

“Namatay sila ng nagseserbisyo, they died with honor for this country, for our organization. Ang pagkamatay nila, nahuli si Marwan, ang number one mambobomba na madami nang napatay. We move on with them in mind. Sa pagseserbisyo natin, we owe this to the SAF 44,” he said.

Remember two keywords for public service; operations and discipline, he said.

“Be active and preventive. Go after all the criminals to protect the people.  Keep criminals from victimizing innocent civilians in other words magtrabaho kayo para sa mga mamamayan,” he reminded them.

Discipline, he said is a matter of character as well as physical appearance.

The means policemen have to be trim, not fat, so they can “run faster that the criminals”.

And “never forget the value of divine intervention that God will always bless us, regardless of our religion. We have to pray so that we will be safe,” he said.

Espina ended his speech relating his encounter with Pope Francis in Tacloban last January.

Esina said he thought hard about what to say, and came up with: “Your Holiness, I am the head of the Philippine police, we will protect you. Please let us. Pero sabi sa akin ”Please pray for me.. muntik na akong matumba parang baliktad, ata,” said Espina.  (I almost stumbled. I didn’t expect our roles would be reversed.)

After his speech, Espina encouraged the policemen to raise any concerns in an open forum.  Some men asked about the process of promotion and retirement, which Espina promised to act on as soon as possible.

Later, he had lunch with his men in a boodle fight, a communal meal shared on banana leaves laid on the table.  After the event, officers still came up to him to have their photos taken with Espina, who eagerly posed with them.