Police official who headed Mamasapano probe now Baguio mayor

(Eagle News)—–Baguio city has a new mayor.

Former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director Benjamin Magalong is now officially back in government service after he won the mayoralty race in the City of Pines.

His vice mayor is Faustino Olowan.

Magalong had anchored his platform on  a “truthful, honest, result-oriented, and integrity-driven leadership.”

As then-director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, he  headed the Board of Inquiry that looked into the botched Mamasapano operation which ultimately found then-President Benigno Aquino III liable for bypassing the chain of command when he designated then-suspended Philippine National Police Chief Alan Purisima as ground commander.

After the controversial report, Magalong, who was believed to be a shoo-in for the PNP’s Command Group, was instead appointed to the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management.

“We have set aside our personal ambitions because we need to be objective. We owe the public, we owe the SAF 44, we owe the families and we need to make sure justice is given to their family members who died,”  Magalong, a former SAF battalion commander himself, had said.

President Rodrigo Duterte would later appoint Magalong as a member of the board of directors of the Philippine National Oil Company.