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[av_heading heading=’Show solid proof, cop dares Serenio’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY MAE SINGUAY
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BACOLOD City – An emotional Senior Superintendent William Señoron challenged Negros Island Region No. 1 illegal drug suspect Ricky Serenio to show solid evidence linking him to the drug trade.
The director of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) was “willing to resign” and “waive my right to all benefits due me for the service I have rendered [for] three decades” if Serenio can prove he received protection money.
But Señoron claimed his alleged involvement in drugs was just a “cover-up.” He believed the real issue being hauled at him had something to do with his role in a “highly publicized police operation about three years ago.”
In an affidavit, Serenio identified Señoron as a beneficiary to the P1-million protection money the Berya drug group (which Serenio claimed to be a part of) gave an official of the Police Regional Office 18’s antidrug unit last year.
“He is mixing truth with lies,” a teary-eyed Señoron said as he read a statement before the press at the Nocppo yesterday. “I doubt if he could really remember the names of those he has given bribes.”
He categorically denied being involved in the drug trade.
“What led him (Serenio) to drag my name in his supposed affidavit is a million-dollar question you and I can easily answer,” said Señoron. “Serenio had become or had allowed himself to be transformed into somebody else’s mad dog.”
He added: “Believe me, drugs is not the issue here. It’s simply a cover-up. This is about the highly publicized police operation about three years ago. The bottom line is simple: to relieve or transfer me elsewhere.”
Señoron was referring to the May 2, 2013 raid of the ancestral house of then Pulupandan town mayor Magdaleno Peña. Ninety firearms were seized by operatives from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Special Action Force of the Police Regional Office 6.
Negros Occidental was still part of Western Visayas at the time. Señoron, then a superintendent, was part of the raiding team. The officers were later charged with maliciously obtaining a void search warrant.
Peña, now mayor of Moises Padilla, and son Miguel, present mayor of Pulupandan, were currently taking protective custody of Serenio.
While he denied the allegations against him, Señoron confirmed some of Serenio’s claims, including how illegal drugs were being smuggled into Negros Occidental via the port of San Carlos City.
Señoron said it would be best to place Serenio in the custody of the Philippine National Police national headquarters in Camp Crame if the authorities “want to exact more substantive information” from the suspect.
“There, he can talk freely without pressure, he can reveal more without being dictated upon by influential groups. There, with higher authorities, he can speak the truth without fear and guaranteed of his safety,” said Señoron./PN
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