Police commander relieved over shooting of councilor

MANILA, Philippines - Metro Manila Police director Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome ordered the relief of a police station commander for failure to stop the motorcycle riding men who shot a councilor in Pasig City.

Bartolome said Senior Inspector Samson Regala, chief of a police community precinct in Pasig, was the first to be relieved under a newly imposed “one-strike policy” against motorcycle-riding assassins. 

“The officer was relieved for not being able to prevent motorcycle riding criminals from shooting Pasig City Councilor Robert Benito,” said Bartolome.

Three-term councilor Benito, 55, was engaged in a conversation with friends near his house on Eusebio Street in Barangay San Miguel on Wednesday when he was shot three times. Police have yet to establish the motive in the attack.

Bartolome had announced he would impose a one-strike policy on all police station commanders under the National Capital Regional Office (NCRPO) who fail to stop motorcycle riding assassins. 

He clarified the one-strike policy could not be implemented in the case of robbery of jewelry shops in Binondo, Manila and Bicutan, Parañaque City. “Those cases were solved immediately,” Bartolome said.