The Philippine National Police (PNP) reinstated Lieutenant Col. Oscar Boyles as the police chief of Tagbilaran City on Monday, two weeks after he was relieved of his post due to an alleged failure to curb illegal gambling operations in the city.
The PNP has a “one-strike” policy against police officers involved in illegal gambling or those who fail to stop gambling activities.
According to Boyles, it was Bohol Provincial Police Office director Colonel Jonathan Cabal who ordered his reinstatement as commander of the Tagbilaran City Police Station (TCPS) and called him to relay the directive.
Boyles said that he explained to his superiors that he has been actively implementing the PNP’s intensified drive against illegal gambling, after he was relieved of his post and transferred to the Police Regional Office 7’s holding unit for investigation due to alleged failure to go after illegal gambling activities.
He presented his case by showing his accomplishment reports during his four-month stint as Tagbilaran’s top cop.
“Patunay na wa ko magpabaya sa sa akong responsibilities akong gi present, gi-cite to akong mga accomplishments,” he said.
A TCPS data indicated that they arrested 62 individuals in 31 anti-gambling operations from th time Boyles took over as chief in October, 2019 to the first week of March, 2020. The figures were the highest tallied by a police station in the province during the period.
Boyles’ relief stemmed from an anti-gambling operation carried out by the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) 7 early in March which resulted in the shutdown of a Peryahan ng Bayan “yellow booth” in the city.
Such establishments were supposed to have already been closed by the police and other law enforcement agencies amid the government and PNP’s crackdown against illegal gambling.
Boyles had explained that he already ordered the closure of all nine Peryahan ng Bayan outlets in the city but the one found by the RSOG 7, reopened just days before the operation.
Following Boyles’ reinstatement, Lt. Col. Jimmy Aguisanda who took over as officer-in-charge of the TCPS was ordered to re-assume his previous post as deputy provincial director for administration of the BPPO. (R. Tutas)