By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Police Regional Office-6 (PRO-6) spokesperson, Police Lt. Colonel Joem Malong, confirmed Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) deputy director, Police Lt. Colonel Jovie Espenido, has been relieved from his post. He said they received the relief order, dated February 5 and signed by Philippine National Police (PNP) Personnel and Records Management director, Police Major General Reynaldo Biay, however, it did not state the reason for the order.
Aside from serving as BCPO deputy director, he was also assigned to lead the City Drug Enforcement Unit.
The outgoing BCPO official is set to be transferred to the PNP Office of the Chief.
The law enforcement official previously made headlines following high-profile deaths in jurisdictions he led, including Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog in 2017 and Rolando Espinosa, mayor of Albuera, Leyte, in 2016.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier ordered Espenido’s assignment to Bacolod City claiming the locality has been “badly hit” by illegal drugs.
“Bacolod is badly hit now and I placed Espenido there, ‘yung kinatakutan nila na pulis  (Bacolod City is badly hit right now and I place Espenido there to have the police intimidate them),” he previously stated. “Sabi ko, ‘Go there and you are free to kill everybody.’ T*** ina (I said, ‘Go there and you are free to kill everybody’ [Expletive]).”
Last month, Espenido asked the Bacolod City government for additional logistical support for their campaign against criminality and illegal drugs. According to the BCPO deputy director, since his arrival in Bacolod City, he noticed the BCPO has “several equipment woes,” noting, a lack of police vehicles and fuel.
Espenido was previously considered for Iloilo City police chief in 2017, when former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog was still in office./DGB, WDJ