(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, Jan. 16, stood by his dismissal of the Bacolod police chief, saying that “at the very least” he was a protector of the illegal drug trade.
“I cannot believe that with all the information available to every chief of police or city police director for that matter assigned in the province, that you would not review the record of the province in terms of criminality and drug trafficking,” Duterte said of Senior Supt. Francis Ebreo.
Duterte also noted Ebreo’s and his deputy’s visit to Bacolod City Councilor Ricardo Tan in the hospital after the latter, who he said has links to the illegal drug business, was ambushed.
“What’s their fu***** business going to the hospital tapos nag-iwan pa sila ng dalawang security,” Duterte asked.
Duterte made the statement a day after he, according to Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, gave Ebreo and other dismissed Bacolod police officials, a “dressing down” in the Palace.
Western Visayas police head Chief Supt. John Bulalacao expressed surprise over Ebreo’s relief, noting what he said were his accomplishments in the area.
But the Palace stood by Duterte’s order, noting that the chief executive has access to information others like high-ranking police officials have no access to.
