By AARON B. RECUENCO
Following the death of Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., national police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa vowed that there will be more narco-politicans and drug lords who would fall in the continuing war against illegal drugs.
Dela Rosa said that he could not just identify who would be next as it all depends on the case buildup being conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and other units under the Philippine National Police (PNP).
“There will be more, just wait,” said Dela Rosa in a press briefing at Camp Crame.
In the case of the Ozamiz City operation that led to the death of Parojinog, his wife Susan, his brother Misamis Occidental Octavio Parojinog Jr. and 12 others, the official said it just so happened that the validation during the case build-up was done ahead of the rest.
The basis of the validation and the case build-up, Dela Rosa disclosed, is the long list of drug lords and narcopoliticians earlier released by President Duterte.
“This should serve as a warning to everyone that there is no sacred cow for the PNP in enforcing the law. As far as the law is concerned, we have no fear or favor. If you have to be operated by our personnel, then you will be operated,” said Dela Rosa.
Before the Parojinogs, the suspected drug lord in Iloilo, couple Melvin and Meriam Odicta, were killed while they were on their way back to their hometown after meeting Dela Rosa at Camp Crame last year.
Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, on the other hand, was killed inside his detention facility in Baybay City in Leyte.
But the Chief PNP was quick to emphasize that those in the list should not be afraid, especially if they are indeed innocent as what they have been claiming.
“If they are really not doing wrong, then why would you be afraid. The case builup can be built or unbuilt depending on the prevailing situation,” said Dela Rosa.
“If we validated that you are continuously involved in illegal drugs, then they have to prepare themselves,” he added.
In the case of the Parojinogs, CIDG chief Director Roel Obusan disclosed that the validation they conducted disclosed that Vice Mayor Nova Princess Parojinog is still into illegal drug trade.
“We conducted validation and it turned out that for quite a time, she went on with illegal drugs trade. In fact, we were able to seize shabu,” said Obusan.
Nova Princess used to be the girlfriend of Herbert Colangco, a controversial inmate of the National Bilibid Prisons tagged as among the top drug lords in the country despite his detention.
“Before we operated, she just came from somewhere. We could not just reveal it because it is part of the investigative complaints,” said Obusan.
Nova arrived at Camp Crame yesterday morning and directly moved to the Custodial Center.
DON’T FIGHT
As far as he is concerned, Dela Rosa said he wanted the Parojinogs alive in order for them to face the justice.
But as the Parojinogs allegedly tried to fight back, Dela Rosa said he and his men had to suffer the consequences of their action of engaging the police in a gunfight.
“I wanted him alive but I want my men to be alive more than him. As the smoke is cleared, the good men should be standing and the bad men should be lying on the pavement,” said the PNP chief.
EVERYTHING GOES BACK TO OZAMIS
The Parojinogs traced their rise to fame at the height of the anti-insurgency campaign in Northern Mindanao wherein the clan patriarch was tapped to fight the communist rebels through the Kuratong Baleleng.
But after the insurgency problem and after each leaders and members were hunted down, the surviving ones allegedly resorted to criminal activities.
Dela Rosa said at the height of the bank robberies and other high-profile crimes in Metro Manila and other areas in Luzon, the investigation would lead the policemen to Ozamiz City.
“Everything goes back to Ozamiz – from cases of bank robberies, Martilyo Gang, kidnap-for-ransom and even rescue of Chinese drug lords,” said Dela Rosa.
RESBAK
While he initially said that there must be something fishy when raiding teams cut off the CCTV lines on the houses of Parojinogs, Dela Rosa said he understood the decision of his men on the ground knowing the capability of the Parojinogs for vengeance.
He narrated that when the clan patriarch and founder of the Kuratong Baleleng was killed, the Parojinogs avenged his death by killing all the policemen involved in the operation, one after another.
“The only surviving policeman, resigned in the police in disgust because he felt that the police could not protect him,” said Dela Rosa.
