Negros police chief axed over return of firearms to mayor

MANILA, Philippines - The head of the Negros Occidental police was relieved from his post yesterday for his alleged failure to prevent the turnover of firearms to the camp of Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña.

Senior Superintendent Ricardo de la Paz failed to exhaust all legal means to reverse a court order turning over the seized firearms to the provincial sheriff, a Camp Crame-based police official said.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima approved the recommendation of Deputy Director General Ager Ontog, the PNP deputy chief for operations, for the relief of De la Paz.

Purisima also ordered the filing of charges against De la Paz, who would be replaced by Senior Superintendent Melco Lirasan.

Records showed that a police team raided Peña’s home in Pulupandan last May 2 and confiscated 90 firearms.

Twelve of the firearms were found to be unlicensed, while the rest were registered to several corporations.

Peña’s son, Pulupandan Mayor-elect Miguel Antonio, filed a petition seeking to recover the firearms seized from their home.

The petition was granted by Regional Trial Court Judge Fernando Elumba last May 30.

Elumba directed the plaintiffs to file a bond amounting to P4 million as a condition for the issuance of the replevin, a writ issued to recover a property deemed wrongfully taken.

Reports reaching Camp Crame showed that the camp of Peña managed to convince Chief Inspector Ramonit Javier, head of the PNP Provincial Crime Laboratory and Scene of the Crime Office (SOCO) in Negros Occidental, to release part of the seized firearms on May 30.

The following day, De la Paz and Peña’s lawyer went to the SOCO office in Camp Montelibano and reportedly took some of the firearms.

The camp of Peña left behind 24 firearms after Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, Western Visayas police director, intervened.

The PNP has yet to determine the charges to be filed against De la Paz, who was placed on floating status at the Western Visayas police headquarters in Iloilo.

The PNP is also planning to file charges against the provincial sheriff and to revoke the licenses of the firearms, which were returned to the Peñas.