Cainta cop chief axed over pillbox explosion

A police official, who was summoned to testify in the last Senate hearing on jueteng, is the new police chief of Cainta, Rizal.

Senior Superintendent Pierre Bucsit replaced yesterday Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, who was relieved by no less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao over a pillbox explosion last Monday in the house of a retired Commission on Elections (Comelec) official in Cainta town.

Bucsit, former intelligence chief of the Region 5 police, appeared before the Senate investigation into the illegal numbers game after witnesses linked him to jueteng operations in Bicol.

Cruz’s relief came after lawyer Roque Bello, a retired Comelec director for the National Capital Region, complained to Lomibao about the inaction of the Cainta police on the pillbox-throwing incident at his house on Birmingham street at Brookeside Subdivision in Barangay Sto. Domingo last Monday.

The blast destroyed the gate of Roque’s house and broke some windows.

The police said nobody was injured in the incident, but responding elements of the Explosive Ordnance Division of the Rizal police and Camp Crame found pillbox fragments at the site.

Roque complained that the incident occurred at 9:30 p.m., but responding policemen arrived two hours later.

And worse, the responding lawmen failed to submit a report of the incident, which left Cruz and Senior Superintendent Freddie Panen in the dark.

"(Lomibao) called up Panen and was surprised because no report was forwarded to his office," a police official said.

Panen said Cruz was relieved administratively pending an investigation into the lapses of his men in the incident.

However, a STAR source claimed that Cruz’s relief was politically motivated.

He said Cruz was closely identified with former President Joseph Estrada and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a staunch critic of President Arroyo.

Prior to his assignment as Cainta police chief, Cruz headed the police command of San Juan, the hometown of the jailed former President.

Panen named Senior Superintendent Pierre Bucsit, a member of the Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM), as officer-in-charge of the Cainta police. — Non Alquitran