Entire town police force sacked over slay probe

ROXAS CITY—The entire police force of Mambusao town has been relieved for failure to solve the killing of the town’s vice mayor, Abel Martinez, last May 4.

Chief Superintedent Cipriano Querol Jr., regional police director, said he was dissatisfied with the way the Mambusao police force was handling the investigation of Martinez’s killing.

“They (Mambusao police) were not doing good. It seemed they were not cooperating,” Querol said.

Shortly after Martinez was killed, Querol ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Capiz police provincial office, under Senior Superintendent Domingo Cabillan, to investigate.

The Mambusao police was expected to help the CIDG and Capiz police in the investigation.

“They failed to identify other suspects,” said Querol. “It’s better to replace them with other capable policemen.”

He said the 27 sacked Mambusao policemen, including their police chief, Senior Inspector Samuel Vipinosa, would be reassigned to other provinces in the region.

“We want peace and order in Capiz. To restore the trust and confidence of the Capiceños in the police, I decided to relieve them all,” Querol said.

He said Inspector Ruel Buccat, of the police Public Safety Management, will replace Vipinosa as Mambusao police chief.

Days after Martinez was killed on May 4, Querol initially sacked two Mambusao policemen, Police Officer 1 Andy Alayon and PO2 Edwin Luces, for their alleged links with a suspected mastermind.

Querol has deployed policemen from the police Regional Public Safety Battalion and the Public Safety Management to maintain peace and order in Mambusao.

In a phone interview on Wednesday noon, May 23, Mambusao Mayor Jose Alba expressed surprise when Buccat was presented as new police chief of the town.

Alba said he was not informed ahead of the relief of the town police force.

Last week, nine suspects in Martinez’s killing were charged with murder by the Capiz police at the Department of Justice in Manila.

Querol said the justice department was taking jurisdiction over the case to speed up its solution.

He, however, said only two of those charged have been identified.

The only two suspects identified in the complaint were 24-year-old Geger Francisco of Barangay Maliao, Tapaz, Capiz; and 28-year-old Sunday Danid of Barangay Daan Sur, also in Tapaz.

Francisco was identified by one of the witnesses as the alleged gunman.

Danid, on the other hand, was tagged as the one who drove the motorcycle that was used by the suspects to flee the crime scene.

Martinez, 79, was shot dead outside his residence on Rizal Street, Barangay Poblacion, Mambusao.

“We want to give justice to Martinez,” Querol said, adding that an investigation of the case must be impartial. Felipe V. Celino, Inquirer Visayas