Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said former Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) deputy director, Police Lt. Colonel Jovie Espenido, remains in good standing as long as President Rodrigo Duterte cleared him.

“When the news came out, the president immediately cleared him by giving him [his] full trust and confidence,” the governor stated.
Lacson said he has no idea why Espenido’s name was included on a drugs watchlist.
Earlier this month, Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran expressed surprise over Espenido being relieved of his BCPO post.
Last month, after the law enforcement official met with Barangay Banago officials and residents of Sitio Sibucao, which is located within the said neighborhood, to discuss the area’s ongoing problem with illegal drugs, the vice mayor lauded the approach, calling it “effective.”
In a press conference yesterday morning, Espenido suspects an “influential politician” may be responsible for his inclusion on the reported drugs watchlist.
“I cannot really pinpoint but one thing I can tell you—greedy, a greedy kind of person,” he said of the politician in question./DGB, WDJ