Espino objects to Verzosa as PD
TIES WITH AGBAYANIS CITED
SAN CARLOS CITY—Governor Amado Espino Jr. brushed aside speculations that Senior Superintendent Mariano Luis Verzosa, currently chief of intelligence of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Office1, will become the next police provincial director of Pangasinan.
“I will be very, very frank if the PNP leadership had assigned Verzosa as next provincial director in permanent capacity, I will oppose it ” Espino said in a talk with mediamen Thursday, his first after coming back from an official trip to the United States last July 1.
Espino’s reluctance on Verzosa’s appointment is the latter’s acknowledged close ties with former Governor Victor Agbayani, who will possibly be the governor’s opponent in the May 2013 election.
“I also have to protect my flank,” said Espino, who is a retired senior superintendent of the PNP, using a military parlance. Espino was Verzosa’s superior officer as police provincial director of Pangasinan and Region 1 director.
Espino, who beat Agbayani in the last election in 2010, said he has received reports that Agbayani and Sixth District Board Member Ranjit Ramos Shahani are already moving around the province in preparation for the coming election.
“If Agbayani will be my opponent in the 2013 election, I don’t want Verzosa to be the chief of police of Pangasinan,” Espino said.
Espino stressed that he has nothing against Verzosa as an officer and admitted that as his former senior officer in the PNP, he had helped Verzosa in his career in the police force.
TIES
It was Espino, as police director of Pangasinan in the mid 1990s, who first assigned Verzosa to the office of then Governor Aguedo F. Agbayani, the father of Victor.
When Espino later became the regional director, he again assigned Verzosa with then Governor Victor Agbayani.
The familial link of Verzosas with Agbayanis was not lost to the governor. The elder sister of Victor is married to the elder brother of Verzosa.
Earlier, Police Regional Director Franklin Bucayo mentioned Verzosa as the possible next police director of Pangasinan as he is supposedly the choice of PNP Chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome for the post.
Espino said he is meeting Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Bartolome on Monday during which he will express his concerns about Verzosa’s possible appointment.
Under the PNP’s guidelines, the provincial governor has the authority to select from among three qualified officers recommended by the PNP hierarchy to become the police director.
The position was previously held by Senior Superintendent Rosueto Ricaforte who left in late April prior to his retirement from the service last May 7.
No one has since been appointed on a permanent capacity while Superintendent Michael Nicolas, who was deputy police director for operation, has been serving on an officer-in-charge status.
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