CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Police securing Zhydee Cabañelez, the teacher who escape a slay try in Valencia City, could only stand stoic as ACT Teacher Rep. France Castro berated and verbally castigated them for not allowing her entry to the victim’s hospital room Wednesday afternoon in Valencia City.
Castro, who claimed Cabañelez was a member of ACT Teacher Partylist, was in Valencia City to visit the wounded teacher.
Zhydee Cabañelez, in an interview with PIA, said she is not a member of ACT Teacher.
The partylist representative arrived at the hospital in Valencia City along with some supporters and insisted on entering the hospital room of Cabañelez. However, police prevented her citing prior request for “privacy” from the victim’s immediate relatives.
This irked Castro and started questioning the presence of police in the hospital.
“Our presence in the hospital premises, particularly within the confinement area of Mrs Cabañelez is not of our own liking,” Valencia City police chief Lt. Col. Surki Sereñas said. “We were requested to secure the victim confined in the hospital,” he added.
Northern Mindanao regional police director Brigadier Rafael Santiago defended his men. “It is our mandate to safeguard the people particularly the oppressed and this particular situation is one of them,” Santiago said.
“The police cannot be remiss on our sworn duty to serve and protect the people,” Santiago said. “We have been gaining headway in our campaign to end local communist armed conflict in this part of the region. We are actually winning the war and when we say we are with the President in his initiative to end this armed conflict, we really mean it,” Santiago said.
Source: PIO, PRO10
