PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte and Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa on Wednesday said that they will reinstate suspended Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Supt. Marvin Marcos, despite pending homicide charges against him.
In a speech during the 26th anniversary of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology in Camp Aguinaldo, Duterte reiterated that he will not allow police and soldiers to be jailed.
“Si Marcos, suspended. Eh ‘di suspended siya. Eh tapos na ang suspension, sabi ko ibalik ninyo sa trabaho iyang mama na iyan [Marcos is suspended. His suspension is already finished, so I said put the man back to work],” Duterte said.
Duterte said he didn’t care about the possible repercussions of his move despite the allegations that Marcos had participated in a rubout of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, who was shot dead in his jail cell.
“There’s a case against him? So what? The son-of-a-bitch criminal can invoke presumption of innocence, and the government can’t? Why the stupid rationale there?” Duterte said in Filipino.
The Justice Department recently downgraded the murder charges against Marcos and 18 other policemen to homicide, making them qualified for bail.
Dela Rosa said he was glad that Marcos would be returned to service.
“It’s a waste that he’s doing nothing and being paid a salary. Let’s put him to work,” the PNP chief told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.
Suspension orders for 18 other policemen would also be lifted and they will be returned to their mother unit, the CIDG.
“It would be up to the CIDG where they will be assigned,” Dela Rosa said, adding that Marcos will be reverted to full duty status and “can be utilized again by the PNP for whatever assignment.”
Marcos and the 18 other policemen, all assigned with the Eastern Visayas CIDG, were charged for the killing of Espinosa Sr. and Raul Yap during a raid on the sub-provincial jail in Baybay City on Nov. 5, 2016.