Iloilo city: Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) director Col. Kim Legada was relieved of his post effective Thursday due to lapses in the conduct of investigation and assessment related to the death of Due±as, Iloilo Vice Mayor Aimee Paz Lamasan. Police Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas) deputy regional director for operations, Col. Roland Bulalacao, temporarily assumed as officer-in-charge, while Legada has been recalled to the regional headquarters, PRO-6 Regional Director Brig. Gen. Josefino Ligan announced in a press conference on Friday.

According to Philippines News Agency, also relieved from post and reassigned to the regional headquarters was ICPO Station 2 commander, Capt. Jeffrey Delgado. "As a matter of procedure, because we saw that there were lapses indeed, it is incumbent upon me to replace and relieve the city director and the station commander, pending investigation," Ligan said. He noted that the "order" for the scene of the crime operatives (SOCO) not to proceed to the place of the incident is already a lapse in the procedures.

In every crime scene, especially a shooting incident, Ligan emphasized that there has to be a SOCO team to process the crime scene. "Yet, on that day, there was no processing," he noted. "As to the duration, we don't know yet. Right now, we have to determine the responsibility in the withdrawal, cancellation, or the holding off of the SOCO," he added.

On Wednesday, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla visited the wake of Lamasan and conducted a case conference with law enforcement officers. In a press conference, he said the death of the local official was considered due to accidental firing, based on their recreation of the scene, investigation, financial transaction, and testimonies from the family.

During the conference, Remulla said the local police committed a mistake because they waited for the official to die before the investigation was conducted. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group is now leading the Special Investigation Task Group.

Lamasan died a day after undergoing an operation at the Iloilo St. Paul's Hospital, where she was rushed following the accidental firing incident on Dec. 30. She was laid to rest on Wednesday.