Two ICPO officers relieved over Lamasan probe lapses

By Jennifer P. Rendon

The Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 ordered the relief of two ranking Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) officers for alleged lapses in the investigation into the death of Dueñas, Iloilo Vice Mayor Aimee Paz Lamasan.

PBrig. Gen. Josefino Ligan, director of PRO 6, confirmed the relief of PCol. Kim Legada and PCapt. Jeffrey Delgado during a press conference on Friday, Jan. 9.

Ligan said Legada, the outgoing Iloilo City Police Office director, and Delgado, chief of Police Station 2, were relieved effective Thursday, Jan. 8.

He said both officers were temporarily reassigned to the PRO 6 headquarters pending further evaluation.

PCol. Roland Bulalacao, PRO 6 deputy regional director for operations, was designated as the ICPO’s officer-in-charge.

Ligan said he personally went to the office of Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu on Friday to formally inform her of Bulalacao’s designation.

The relief order followed statements by the Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr., who said investigators committed serious errors in handling the Lamasan case.

Remulla said during a Jan. 7 press conference that police failed to immediately process the crime scene.

“They investigated 36 hours later,” Remulla said. “They waited [for Lamasan] to die before they investigated.”

He said investigators should have conducted a scene investigation immediately after receiving the report.

Ligan said it was his duty to relieve and replace the officers involved following the findings.

He said he wanted to determine who ordered the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) team to halt its initial investigation.

“So there were already lapses there,” Ligan said. “There should actually be a SOCO team to process the crime scene, and yet on that day, the procedure wasn’t followed.”

Ligan reiterated that he wanted clarity on who instructed the SOCO team to delay processing the crime scene.

Earlier, Legada said investigators and the SOCO team were initially directed to proceed to Lamasan’s residence after Delgado received the report.

Legada said the SOCO team was already en route when Delgado was informed that the scene had been sanitized.

“Wala man nag-diretso ang SOCO,” Legada said. “The firearm that killed Vice Mayor Lamasan was already placed inside a box and was turned over to the police.”

He said that when investigators later returned to the house, no one was present.

Investigators initially gathered information at the hospital on Dec. 30, the day of the incident, and were told that Lamasan was recovering at the intensive care unit of St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo following surgery.

They were later surprised to learn that she died the following day.

Police earlier said Lamasan allegedly shot herself at around 7:50 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2025, inside her residence on Ubay Street in Puerto Real de Iloilo Subdivision, Barangay Tabuc Suba, La Paz, Iloilo City.

She was taken to the hospital by her partner, Lord Byron Torrecarion, and her police bodyguard. She died in the afternoon of Dec. 31.

Ligan said Legada’s relief would not affect preparations for the Dinagyang Festival 2026.

“The preparations are in place,” Ligan said. “We have conducted numerous meetings. It’s a matter of refinement na lang.”

He said that the PRO 6 will deploy more than 3,000 police personnel during the celebration.