Cop chief relieved over Negros vice mayor’s arrest

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — A police official who led the arrest of a vice mayor and her husband in Negros Occidental for illegal possession of firearms and explosives last month has been relieved from his post.

Senior Inspector Allan Reloj was replaced as police chief of Moises Padilla town on Monday, Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil, Negros Occidental police chief, said yesterday.

Senior Inspector Alfredo de Leon took over Reloj’s post.

Moises Padilla Vice Mayor Ella Celestina Garcia-Yulo and her husband Felix Mathias were released last Jan. 5 based on an order signed by assistant provincial prosecutor Elsie Madrangca-Sendico and approved by deputy prosecutor Ma. Consolacion-Bascug on Dec. 29, 2017.

The court said the charges for illegal possession of explosives filed against the couple had “no leg to stand on.”

There was insufficient evidence to continue the investigation into the complaint for illegal possession of firearms in the absence of the guns reportedly recovered from the couple, the court added.

Three .45-caliber pistols, ammunition, two fragmentation grenades and a sachet of shabu were allegedly recovered from the couple’s Mitsubishi Strada at a checkpoint in Barangay Crossing Magallon on Dec. 19.

Castil said the couple tested negative for drug use.

He said a committee he created has yet to finish its investigation into the incident. He said they are still waiting for the testimonies of the witnesses to be presented by the vice mayor and her  husband. 

Castil gave assurance that he would endorse the charges to be filed against Reloj to the Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service.

Karol Joseph Chiu, counsel of the Yulos, said they would file multiple criminal and administrative charges against Reloj before a local court and the National Police Commission.