(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday reiterated he wanted Supt. Marvin Marcos reinstated, noting that he would “never ever” allow any member of the government security force to go to jail “for doing his duty and obeying” his order.
“E ngayon si Marcos suspended. E di suspended siya. Tapos tapos na suspension, sabi ko ibalik niyo sa trabaho yang mama. Wala naman yan nun e. He was too faraway. He wasn’t part of the raiding team,” Duterte said, referring to the team that raided the Leyte subprovincial jail in November 2016, where then-Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who faced drug-related charges and was the father of known druglord Kerwin Espinosa, was shot dead by police.
Apart from the mayor, drug suspect Raul Yap was also killed.
The 18-man raiding team reportedly led by Marcos had argued Espinosa and Yap, who were in possession of a firearm and illegal drugs when they served the search warrants past 4 a.m., had tried to shoot at them, prompting them to fire back.
Marcos and several members of the team have been criminally charged.
“Sabi may kaso. And so? Yung criminal, may presumption of innocence, ang government (worker) hindi. Why is that stupid rationale (there) e. E wala sir, buhayin mo because of presumption of innocence. Pagdating ng tagagovernment, p***** i**, kung ano ano nalang pagsasabi ninyo. (Dapat) tabla,” he said, to applause from members of the audience, who were mostly personnel from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
He said if government security forces and personnel in general were convicted for “doing their jobs and following his orders,” they would “also be pardoned (and their full rights) restored.”
“Imbestigasyon ng pulis, di ako makikialam diyan…Charge, sige. Idemanda mo. Tutal may stages–prosecution inyo iyan, judiciary inyo yan, judge, prosecutor. Pagkatapos preso o ako. E kung tagagobyerno ka, nakikita kong wala kang kasalanan, o kasalanan mo, sumunod ka lang sa akin, araw araw ang kapal niyang pardon na iyan,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.
He said his men should “just tell me the truth.”
“Huwag mo ako bolahin. Sabihin mo, sir, ganito talaga nangyari…,” he said.
“Give me a good reason why I should not protect government men, security forces and all, at bakit ako (magproprotekta) sa mga kriminal na wala na ginawa kundi (krimen),” he added.