A supposed petition seeking to reinstate the 19 police station commanders in Davao City and remove the acting city police director has surfaced.
Councilor Luna Acosta, chairperson of the City Council’s Peace and Public Safety Committee, presented the petition that was said to have been forwarded to the People’s Law Enforcement Board.
The petition, labeled as “Protestang Petisyon,” showed signatures of thousands of Davaoeños.
“The petition here is asking that the 19 station commanders be assigned back to their previous post. So, I have here signatures from different Dabawenyos,” Acosta said.
Acosta showed the documents when Police Regional Office-Davao (PRO-11) Director, Brigadier General Nicolas Torre III; and Davao City Police Office (DCPO) Acting Director, Col. Hansel Marantan, appeared before the plenary.
It can be recalled that the commanders of the 19 police stations in the city were relieved on July 8, 2024.
“When I made that decision because I made that decision, I have empirical data on that. They were actually not removed from the region. They were just reassigned from Davao City to other parts of the region,” Torre said.
Torre requested for an executive session with the City Council to discuss the empirical data he used as basis in relieving the 19 police station chiefs from their posts.
The call to replace Marantan was also part of the petition. Marantan is serving the DCPO on acting capacity since Mayor Sebastian Duterte has yet to approve his appointment.
“I would like to first look at that petition and verify kung ano ang kanilang mga points na niraise doon kasi baka mamaya ginawa ‘yun before actually I made the more pressing decisions and more encompassing na decisions na ginawa ko sa ngayon,” Torre added.