Napolcom stops probe vs cops in Espinosa slay

MANILA, Philippines - The National Police Commission (Napolcom) has decided to stop its probe on police officers involved in the killing of the Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa.

Napolcom vice chairman Rogelio Casurao said the commission decided to give way to the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) after they learned that the investigating body is almost done with its own probe of Espinosa’s death.

“We compared notes and learned they are almost finished with their own investigation. We are prohibited by our rule on exclusivity. We will allow IAS to complete the process,” Casurao said in a phone interview yesterday evening.

Earlier yesterday, Casurao said the Napolcom found probable cause to initiate summary dismissal proceedings against the police officers tagged in the Espinosa slay.

He said the members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 8 committed “glaring” violations of police standard operating procedures in the operation which led to the death of Espinosa and another inmate, Raul Yap, at the Leyte sub-provincial jail in Baybay City, Leyte.

The policemen involved claimed Espinosa and Yap engaged them in a shootout, which forced them to retaliate.

Casurao said Supt. Marvin Marcos, sacked chief of CIDG Region 8, and other officers erred when they did not inform the regional police director of Leyte, Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, about their operation against Espinosa on Nov. 5, 2016.