All 29 cops in Albay town relieved

By Ephraim Aguilar, ATN
Inquirer Southern Luzon

OAS, ALBAY—FOR responding too late to a robbery-holdup that resulted in the death of two security guards, all 29 policemen in this town, including their chief, were relieved for retraining.

“How could a crime happen just a few blocks away from the municipal police station under broad daylight?” an irate resident, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Inquirer a day after Nolasco Mini-Mart was robbed on Sept. 10. The store was just 100 meters away from the police station.

Killed were Elmar Issagira and Edmundo Romero, both of this town. The store’s owner, Ajerico Nolasco, was wounded after he hurled a bottle, wounding one of three bonnet-wearing robbers before they fled.

Senior Supt. Joel Baloro, provincial police director, said the Oas police were relieved after being found to be “inefficient” in responding to the people’s security needs.

The robbery, Baloro said, occurred at 6:45 p.m. and police presence then could have been prevented it.

Before the relief order was released, Chief Insp. Mario Medios, Oas police chief, denied the lack of police visibility in the town proper.

“We have two checkpoints and our police are augmented with local public safety officers,” he told the Inquirer in a mobile phone interview.