No relief order yet, but Quezon police chief ready to step down

LUCENA CITY, Quezon — "I will step down immediately when I receive my relief order."

Thus said Superintendent Ricardo Padilla, Quezon police director and head of Task Force Polly investigating the killing of broadcaster Apolinario Pobeda, in reaction to reports that he was unceremoniously relieved of his post last Monday.

In an interview with The STAR yesterday, Padilla said he has not received any relief order from his superiors.

"But it’s true that I have a warning order," he said.

The Pobeda family and their supporters have accused Padilla of white-washing the case and withholding evidence that may reveal the mastermind of the crime.

Task Force Polly, composed of elements of the Quezon police, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, military intelligence and the National Bureau of Investigation, arrested two suspects, brothers Eulogio and Eric Patulay, last May 23.

The task force said the two brothers were alleged close-in bodyguards of Lucena councilor Romano Talaga, son of Mayor Ramon Talaga.

Investigators found in the brothers’ possession a memorandum receipt (MR) for the firearms allegedly issued by Mayor Talaga and identification cards bearing the mayor’s name.

The Pobeda family and some sectors here have accused Padilla and Superintendent Danny Ramon Sionco, Lucena police chief who is on leave, of withholding these pieces of evidence from them in an alleged cover-up.

Padilla, however, denied the allegations, saying the evidence should only be presented in court.

"Kanino ko iti-turn over ang evidence? Wala pa namang hearing (To whom should I turn over the evidence? There’s no hearing yet)," he said.

"Kung nag-request lang sila noon na gusto nilang makita ang mga evidence, e di pinakita ko sa kanila (If only they had requested to see the evidence, I could have shown it to them)," he added.

Mayor Talaga again denied any role in Pobeda’s killing.

Talaga told The STAR that his political enemies framed up the Patulay brothers so that he would be blamed for the crime.

"E ano ngayon kung may ID at MR sila? Kung naging security ko ba sila, ibig ba sabihin na ako rin ang nagpapatay (What if they had IDs and an MR? If they had been my security escorts, does that mean I masterminded the killing)?" Talaga said.

For his part, Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal, Region 4-A police director, downplayed the allegations against Padilla and Sionco.

"The evidence they were referring to could not prove anything," Caringal said.

He denied having issued an order relieving Padilla, but admitted that there was an order from Camp Crame to investigate the accusations against him.

NBI Lucena chief Celso Guinga himself threw his support behind Padilla, saying that his relief would send a wrong signal to all the members of the task force.