THE chief of the Palawan police was relieved from his post on Saturday due to the series of killings in the province, including a lawyer who was slain in Narra town while on the way to a court hearing.
Col. Dionisio Bartolome will be temporarily replaced by Col. Nicolas Torre III in concurrent capacity as the deputy director for operations of the MIMAROPA regional police office.
In a statement, the Mimaropa Regional Police Office ordered the relief of Barolome “due to the series of shooting incidents that happened in his AOR (area of responsibility).”
“The said relief and designation orders issued by the regional headquarters were the result of the immediate and appropriate actions of the regional headquarters to help lessen the fear of Palaweños,” the statement added.
It said Bartolome will remain part of the Special Investigation Task Group tasked to solve the murder of Eric Jay Aston Magcamit, who was shot dead by two suspects Tuesday last week in Barangay Malinao, Narra town. Magcamit is the 52nd member of the legal profession killed in the country since 2016.
“He will still assist Col. Torre III in the early solution of the said cases,” the statement read.
Magcamit was aboard his Toyota Innova when he was flagged down by two suspects who later shot him. He was on the way to Quezon town, Palawan, to attend a court hearing.
Police said it has secured a dash cam footage of the two male suspects. But they are still searching for close circuit televisions footage along the route “for clearer images.”
Bartolome assumed command as Palwan provincial director in January 2019. Among the other killings in Palawan involved a Marine trooper in Quezon, a former communist rebel in Roxas town, and a nurse also in Roxas town.
