Bizarre Davao City police command reshuffle not ‘abnormal’

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 July)—The bizarre reshuffle on Wednesday of the police command here, wherein the city underwent through three police chiefs within a day, was “not an abnormal procedure”

“We can be relieved anytime, assigned to anywhere. This is part of our duties as police officers,” said Maj. Catherine dela Rey, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office 11 (PRO-11).

Dela Rey told MindaNews Thursday that the reshuffle was still “part of the duty or work of the regional director to assign or reassign officers.”

But when asked why there was a fast turnover of officers in DCPO last Wednesday, she said she could provide no details for the reason.

Early morning Wednesday, Col. Lito Patay, who was designated as “officer-in-charge” (OIC) of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), reported to his post to assume command. He was appointed OIC two days earlier by Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, director of the Police Regional Office 11 (PRO-11).

As he was holding his first command conference with the fresh set of 19 newly appointed station commanders in the city at the DCPO headquarters, he was informed before noon that he had been relieved of his post.

By 4:08 p.m., Dela Rey revealed in a group chat among police beat reporters in Davao City that Col. Sherwin Butil, who headed PRO-11’s Regional Information and Communications Technology Management Division, will be the new OIC.

Finally, at 8:48 p.m., Dela Rey announced in the same group chat that Col. Hansel M. Marantan, stable internal peace and security officer of the Area Police Command for Southern Luzon, will be the “acting city director” effective Wednesday.

Despite all the chaos at the DCPO on Wednesday, spokesperson Hazel Tuazon said police morale remained high and they will still keep professionalism despite the leadership changes.

Dela Rey has yet to confirm when Marantan’s turnover ceremony will be, and when the newly-installed officer will come to DCPO.

Marantan was involved in the controversial “rubout” incident in Atimonan, Quezon province in 2013, wherein 13 people were killed.

Investigation by the Philippine National Police, then under the leadership of Alan Purisima, revealed there were multiple procedural violations at the checkpoints set up during the operation, including the use of high-powered firearms by personnel in civilian attire and the establishment of unusually configured multiple checkpoints, which did not comply with PNP standards.

Marantan, who was wounded in the incident, was then dismissed from service together with 12 other cops in 2014, being found guilty for “serious irregularity in the performance of duty.”

Even though a case for multiple murder had been filed against Marantan and the other policemen involved in the Atimonan case, the court allowed them to post bail and were later reinstated into the police force after their appeal was granted by the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) in 2017.

He was promoted as colonel in 2021 by former Philippine National Police chief Debold Sinas.

The vice chairman of the National Police Commission at that time, Vitaliano Aguirre II, explained that police officers with pending cases are qualified for promotion if their cases are not resolved in two years, citing Republic Act 9708, which tackles the PNP’s promotion system. But he pointed out that if found guilty by final judgement, then the promotion will be recalled.

Patay, meanwhile, was appointed as the chief of Quezon City Police Station 6 (Batasan) in 2016, shortly after Rodrigo Duterte became president. He brought with him a group of police officers from Davao, known as the “Davao Boys,” who were known for their involvement in Duterte’s drug war. A Reuters report in 2017 noted that the Davao Boys were “involved in more than half of Station 6’s drug-related killings, 62 out of 108 deaths, including the three operations with the highest body count.”

In May 2022, just over a month before the end of Duterte’s term, Malacañang cleared Patay of an administrative charge linked to a minor’s death during a police operation in Payatas, Quezon City in 2016.

Four weeks ago, members of the House of Representatives probed Patay for the Duterte era “drug war” killings where he denied alleged abuses during his stint as chief of Station 6, saying “they only did their job” as police “to defend themselves,” (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)