Probe on Talisay cops’ relief on

Police Regional Director Roberto Delfin yesterday ordered an investigation on the circumstances leading to the relief of two Talisay City policemen on May 20. Delfin directed Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division chief Augusto Marquez to look into the allegations of the policemen that a city councilor had influenced the decision of police provincial chief Maximo Calimlim relieving them from their assignment.

The two policemen, Noel Villamor and Leopoldo Palcunit had previously implicated city councilor Emil Go as having a hand in the continued video karera operations in Talisay.

They claimed that Go had manipulated their relief after Go was seen at Calimlim’s office on the day the relief order was issued against them. Go had denied the allegations challenging the two policemen to prove their charges in court. He also denied visiting Calimlim whose decision, he said, he has no right to influence. Calimlim also denied seeing Go on the alleged date, saying that the relief of Villamor and Palcunit was based on the recommendation of Talisay chief Pablo Florante Lamosao.

Calimlim furthered he did not know Lamosao’s reason for the recommendation to relieve them.

The other day, however, Lamosao denied he ever recommended for the relief of the two policemen, saying he has no basis to do so considering that he is still new in his post.

Mayor Eduardo Gullas, for his part, said Lamosao had not informed him of the reason behind the controversial relief of Villamor and Palcunit, who are now assigned at the Cordova Police.

Delfin said he needs statements from the two policemen while expecting Calimlim to give him an explanation on the reasons behind their transfer from the Talisay force to Cordova. Delfin said there is no deadline imposed on Marquez to complete the investigation, admitting that it cannot be done effectively in a short span of time. — Freeman News Service