Sinas orders immediate relief of Ronda police officers

RONDA, Cebu—The director of the Central Visayas police ordered the immediate relief of the commander and all police officers of the Ronda Police Station who were on duty when its mayor was killed inside the municipal hall past 1 a.m. on Wednesday.

Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said Senior Insp. Jay Soto Palcon and at least ten of the latter’s personnel shall relinquish their posts in Ronda and report to the Cebu Provincial Police Office starting Thursday.

“I have to relieve the chief of police of Ronda and all those on duty that night following allegations that they did not respond accordingly,” he said in a press conference on Thursday.

“We have to relieve them to determine whether they committed some lapses. They have to explain what happened,” he added.

Unidentified men shot dead Blanco inside his office at the municipal hall of Ronda where he had been staying for years now.

Blanco, who was among the alleged narco-politicians publicly identified by President Rodrigo Duterte, suffered five gunshot wounds on his body.

The shooting incident happened just five meters away from the police station.

Past midnight on Wednesday, seven policemen of the Ronda Police Station led by their precinct commander reportedly went to Barangay Vive–about five kilometers from their headquarters–to supposedly serve the arrest warrant against a person who was charged in court for allegedly stealing a rooster in 2006.

But before they reached the place, the operatives received a call from fellow policemen that Blanco was killed by unknown assailants inside the municipal hall of Ronda, reportedly prompting Palcon and his men to return to the station.

Only two policemen were left in the station and did not even bother to respond to the shooting incident at the municipal hall which was just five meters away.