WAS it really police handiwork or a mere abduction? And a lot more questions arising from a “kidnapping” incident at city bus terminal sometime last week, where a man being waylaid and forced into a white sedan whose owner has been identified. It was learned that after the incident, nobody or any concerned family put it on police record.
Board Member Atty. Benjie Arcamo told his colleagues that the said incident took place in broad daylight with a lot of people witnessing it but could not do otherwise.
This surfaced as the provincial board is set to conduct a no-nonsense probe over the said incident after Board Member Atty. Benjie Arcamo’s privilege speech, who moved that the said investigation be referred to the Committee of the Whole chaired by Vice-Gov. Nick Besas.
Arcamo said there’s a lot of things the board need to know. Among the questions or issues he raised include: Who were those men who wear masked in kidnapping the person? Who was the person being kidnapped. Why the police was not around when the incident took place?
It is illegal to abduct a person without authority, he said. He cited an incident that allegedly the police arrested a suspect in Panglao but they brought the suspect to Clarin town, about 70 kms from Panglao island.
As this developed, City police chief LtCoL John Kareen Escober and several police personnel have been relieved from their current posts effective March 16, 2026 pursuant to the official order issued by provincial director PCOL Patricio Degay, Jr. after the said incident.
Replacing Escober is Police LtCoL Judy Mar Bonilla, Deputy Provincial Director for Administration as temporary Officer-in-Charge city police chief until a permanent replacement is confirmed, report said.
City Mayor Jane Cajes-Yap pointed this out in her facebook post as a that the relief of Escober is “step to allow an impartial and objective investigation to proceed” over a video circulating on social media showing a man allegedly being pulled and forced into a vehicle.
Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) issued a statement that clarifies the relief of Escober as an “administrative movement a procedural necessity, serving as a proactive measure to safeguard the absolute integrity and impartiality of the ongoing investigation.”
By doing so, the BPPO hopes to do away with any perception of influence, allowing internal investigators to work with full independence and transparency. (RVO)
