Osmeña questions move to replace region 7 police chief Comendador

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña welcomes PRO-7 Director Noli Taliño to his residence during a courtesy visit. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

WHY replace PRO-7 Director Patrocinio Comendador?

This was asked by Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña when he met new PRO-7 Director Noli Taliño, who paid a courtesy visit at his residence in Barangay Guadalupe yesterday.

“Binanggit lang niya (Osmeña) bakit napalitan, sabi ko di ko din alam, pinapunta lang ako ni chief PNP (Dela Rosa) at ng presidente (Duterte) to implement the programs against illegal drugs, anti-criminalities and corruption,” Taliño said.

Osmeña said in an interview that he had nothing against the new PRO-7 director, but he just couldn’t understand why the change of command when in fact he himself asked PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to retain Comendador as PRO-7 director.

“I said don’t do this now. We are just getting started. He (dela Rosa) said, ‘okay, I’ll give him 90 days’,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña said the changes of command at PRO-7 created uncertainty.

“We have winning team here and then they changed the coach. Maybe this guy (Taliño) is a better coach. I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like. There is something beyond this. We’ll just wait and see,” he said.

When asked about the courtesy visit, Osmeña said it was a standard operating procedure and there was nothing special about it. Osmeña said he and Taliño agreed to cooperate in the campaign against criminality and illegal drugs in Cebu.

Despite the changes, the mayor said he still wanted to work with the new PRO-7 director in his campaign against illegal drug activities in the city. “I hope he (Taliño) understands me because I’m a little bit disoriented,” he said.