All 27 police officers of the Pilar Municipal Police Office in Abra have been relieved and reassigned to other places.
The officers figured in a shooting with the security team of Pilar, Abra Vice Mayor Josefina Somera Disono after the group reportedly ignored a police checkpoint at the town center last March 30.
“I have ordered the replacement of all PNP personnel of Pilar MPS, from the chief of police to the lowest ranking police officers,” Brig. Gen. Ronald Oliver Lee, regional director of the Police Regional Office-Cordillera, said in a statement.
Lee said the implicated officers will be replaced by personnel from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 15.
Lee said the 27 personnel have been temporarily re-assigned to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Section of the Abra Provincial Police Office for deployment to other units to perform election duties.
Information reaching the media said Comelec Chair Saidamen Pangarungan issued an order placing Pilar under Commission on Elections control based on the recommendation of Comelec-Cordillera and the complaint of Pilar Mayor Maro Somera.
The National Bureau of Investigation earlier filed murder charges against 16 individuals including the regional director of the PRO-Cor, the provincial police director, and the Comelec officer of Pilar, after finding there was conspiracy that led to the alleged shootout.
Abra PPO Director, Col. Maly Cula said he hopes the new set of policemen will properly manage the peace and order in the town, considering that the order came four days before the elections. – PNA
