President Rodrigo Duterte has said he believes that the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Cebu City may have had a role in the killing of Mayor David Navarro, of Clarin, Misamis Occidental, who was ambushed and shot dead last week while in police custody.
Navarro was included in Duterte’s so-called “narco-lists,” or lists of politicians who were allegedly involved in the drug trade, but the president told reporters yesterday in an interview at Malacañang Palace that the mayor had actually been a supporter who even visited him two weeks ago. During their meeting, Navarro allegedly told Duterte that “somebody’s out to get him,” but the president said he wasn’t sure who it was.
Duterte then went on to suggest the PNP could have been responsible for Navarro’s ambush.
“What did the PNP do?” he asked. “Maybe they’re the ones who killed him; they’re the ones who were around him.”
Read: Misamis Occidental mayor shot dead after being arrested for beating up masseur
The president said that the case will be investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) instead of the PNP.
“I prefer the NBI to investigate it… because he was with the police. And to make it really fair, I’d like to order the police to terminate their investigation, and hand it to the NBI whatever document and/or proof or evidence that they have in their hands,” Duterte said.
Navarro was ambushed while he was being transported by the police to the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office for inquest proceedings after he was charged for allegedly beating up a masseur. Several masked men stopped his van, ordered him to get out, then shot him dead. None of the cops who were also in the van with Navarro were killed, although some were injured in the attack.
Duterte also claimed that he had nothing to do with the narco-lists that included Navarro’s name. He said he was only responsible for the very first narco-list, released in 2016, which he thought did not include Navarro.
Read: Former Police Chief Albayalde tagged in amended complaint against alleged Pampanga dirty cops case
However, according to Rappler, Navarro’s name appeared in two of the government’s narco-lists: Duterte’s first, in 2016, and another this year, released shortly before the mid-term elections. Navarro had denied having anything to do with the drug trade.
Meanwhile, the PNP said yesterday that they will comply with Duterte’s order to cease their investigation into Navarro’s case.
The PNP has been suffering from a public relations nightmare after its former chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde, was accused of protecting cops who had allegedly stolen hundreds of kilos of methamphetamine during a drug raid in Pampanga in 2013. Albayalde resigned this month ahead of his official retirement and has since been charged in connection with the case.
Duterte is now looking for a new PNP chief, which he admitted yesterday was a “difficult” process.
