A TASK Force formed by Dagupan City Administrator Alvin Fernandez is under fire for alleged abuses.

Councilor Michael Fernandez is leading the call for members of Task Force Marshal “to behave” following numerous reports of misuse of or exceeding authority.

Task Force Marshal was created to take the place of security guards of an agency employed by the past city administration to secure the Malimgas Public Market, city hall and other public installations in the city.

Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo joined Councilor Fernandez in deploring the abuses allegedly committed by members of the task force.

Tamayo suggested that the group be renamed “Wow Dagupan Task Force” instead of ‘marshal’ which gives task force members the impression that they are persons of authority.

The city administrator, son of the city mayor, cited cost-cutting as the reason for doing away with the security guards and replacing them with casual employees as members of the Task Force Marshal.

Fernandez and Tamayo invited the chief of the Task Force Marshal, Adel Malapit, in the next session of the city council to answer questions from aldermen concerning his men and organization.

Malapit has denied that his men have been abusive and expressed his desire to appear before the city council to clarify the issue.

Malapit recently defended two task force members who reportedly carried handguns when they responded to pacify trouble-makers in one of the eateries on Galvan Street on August 29, during which gun shots were fired.

But Supt. Mariano Verzosa, officer-in-charge of the Dagupan Police, said the two members of the task force have committed lapses by not coordinating with the police, whose community precinct was just nearby, before responding to the trouble.

In another incident, a news photographer was nearly roughed up by a member of the task force when the latter allegedly simply misunderstood something what the latter said while covering an event in the city.

Stallholders at Malimgas Market said that members of the task force were reported a few times to have roughed up persons they suspected to be thieves before endorsing the suspects to the police.

Members of the task force cannot enforce the law as they are just ordinary casual employees of the city government, Councilor Fernandez bluntly said.

At the same time, Councilor Fernandez sought a copy of the executive order for which the task force was created in order to review the functions of the group.

He advised members of the task force to stick to their main function which is to guard buildings and not act as if they are law enforcers or agents of persons in authority.—LM

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