Comendador cautions Relado from making statements to public

Cebu City Police acting director Patrociño Comendador had cautioned Theft and Robbery Section chief Alexis Relado from releasing information on the Dranix robbery case without any concrete evidence.

Comendador's advise to Relado came after the family of slain security guard Edgardo Embolode got dismayed with Relado's statement that tagged the guard as the "insider" in the P1-million robbery of Dranix Distributors Inc. last Monday dawn.

The guard's family also wanted Relado to make a public apology for the statement that Embolode was the robbers' "inside man but was double-crossed", the reason why he was killed.

It was just a theory, according to Relado then, saying he was merely expressing "his own opinion" but Comendador said that, with only the circumstantial evidences at hand, it was still premature for the police official to divulge it.

In behalf of Relado, who has been in his hometown in Iloilo since last Friday, Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Bureau chief Paul Labra, made an apology to the Embolode family.

Comendador also said he felt sorry for Relado's statement, especially that the slain guard could no longer defend himself from such attribution.

Relado should not speak any more of any personal view, said Comendador, adding that he wanted all information about the case must come from his office before relayed to reporters.

The police already have a suspect in the robbery, for now, but then the problem is there is that the single evidence against him is still circumstantial in nature. - Flor Z. Perolina/RAE