(R) Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has reconsidered her earlier appeal to the national police to replace (L) Davao City Police Chief Senior Superintendent Michael John Dubria. (davaotoday.com file photo)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has reconsidered her earlier appeal to the national police to replace Davao City Police Chief Senior Superintendent Michael John Dubria.
“I have reconsidered my earlier decision and I now want Dubria to stay,” Duterte said, adding that she wants Dubria to “feel the pain” too.
Duterte earlier wanted Dubria and Task Force Davao chief Col. Henry Robinson relieved after the Roxas night market blast that killed 15 people and injured 69 others last Sept. 2.
Robinson was eventually replaced by Col. Erwin Bernard Neri.
“I don’t want him to forget,” she said. “I want him to learn from it. What I want is that he will function as director of the DCPO guided by the lessons of that terror attack.”
Dubria’s relief was also delayed after the Philippine National Police failed to come up with a list of possible replacements. The list came almost two months after the incident.
For Duterte, appointing a new Davao City police chief wouldn’t serve no purpose at all because “a new city director would not understand” her feeling.
“It will be easy for him to transfer to another post and forget what happened the night of Sept. 2, 2016, in Davao City. But, after careful thought, I want him to stay and feel the pain I feel every day. A new city director would not understand this feeling,” she said.
On Thursday, PNP Director Ronald dela Rosa submitted a list of possible replacements to Duterte which include, Senior Supt. Antonio Yarra, Senior Supt. Albert Ocon and Senior Supt. Milo Pagtalunan.
Yarra served as acting director of Quezon Provincial Police and chief of the Regional Comptrollership Division of the Police Regional Office in Calabarzon.
Ocon was provincial police chief of Ilocos Norte before his relief on the first day of the election gun ban in January this year. Pagtalunan served at the Crime Investigation Detection Group Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Unit. (davaotoday.com)
