COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 16 April) — Comelec Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, chairperson of the poll body’s Committee on Gun Ban and Security Concerns, has requested PNP Chief Rommel Marbil to relieve top police officials in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for their alleged “failure to act” on the urgent security detail request of election personnel.
The police officials named in Ferolino’s request are Brig. Gen. Romeo Macapaz, regional director of the Police Regional Office – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR); Col. Eleuterio Ricardo Jr., Maguindanao del Norte provincial director; and Col. Ryan Bobby Paloma, Maguindanao del Sur provincial director.
“This request is due to their continued failure to act promptly on urgent security detail requests from our field personnel, including the request made by Election Officer (EO) Maceda L. Abo as early as 8 January 2025. Despite persistent follow-ups from our EOS and repeated appeals from the Provincial Election Supervisors (PES) of Maguindanao during R/PJSCC meetings, no appropriate action was taken,” Ferolino said.
Abo, election officer of Datu Odin Sinsuat municipality of Maguindanao del Norte, and her husband Jojo, who was driving the SUV, were killed in an ambush on March 28.
Ferolino said they will no longer allow any more of their employees and field officers to be harmed or killed.
Macapaz, in a phone interview as response to the Comelec request, said he is ready for whatever the decision of the police leadership will be.
But Macapaz clarified that he did not neglect his duties.
“I just want to say that I did not neglect my duties. Because if they had only told me that they had such a request … in the many times we met, I myself would have looked for a solution. So there’s no reason for them to say that I did nothing,” he said.
Macapaz admitted that he was unaware that there was such a request addressed to his former provincial director in Maguindanao del Sur, Col. Roel Sermese, that was not acted upon and was not made known to him. He said he learned about the request only after Abo was ambushed.
Sermese, said Macapaz, was already relieved after the ambush, and administrative charges filed against him.
He said the suspects in Abo’s ambush have already been identified and charged on Tuesday.
Macapaz assured that the request of the election officers in the region for adequate security escorts while serving in the elections will be addressed. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
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