Malacanang on Sunday urged the public to respect the decision of the leadership of the Philippine National Police to cancel the transfer of Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido in Iloilo City.

"This is the decision reached by the leadership of the Philippine National Police following the established policies and procedures in the transfer, reassignment and designation of their personnel," Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement.

"Everyone is enjoined to respect the order of the high command," he added.

Meanwhile, in a television interview, Espenido said he still has unfinished business in Ozamiz City.

Espenido is the current chief of police in Ozamiz whose mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. and 15 others were killed in the police anti-drug raids last July.

"One of the Parojinog brothers with the name of alias 'Ardot' is still at large. We know already that this person is notorious because he is the one, a public knowledge, who is the leader of a certain 'Martilyo Gang'," he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte has placed P3-million reward for anyone who could provide information for the arrest of Ardot.

Last Saturday, Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Police Regional Office 6 director, said Espenido's reassignment was cancelled based on the documents he received from the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.

“We received official documents, two documents from the national police headquarters and we confirmed it,” Binag said in a radio interview.

Duterte earlier announced that Espenido would be assigned in Iloilo City, which he called as the "shabulized" city in the country. Ella Dionisio/DMS