What went wrong in VM Lamasan probe?

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. said police committed mistakes in the investigation of the death of Dueñas, Iloilo Vice Mayor Aimee Paz Lamasan.

Following Remulla’s pronouncement, the Iloilo City Police Office said it is reviewing the actions taken during the probe.

“We will check the mistakes committed and file appropriate charges, if necessary,” said ICPO Director Col. Kim Legada.

Legada said he may also be included among those who will be held answerable, depending on the findings of the review.

Remulla said during a press conference on Jan. 7 that police failed to immediately investigate the scene of the incident.

“They investigated 36 hours later. Hinintay na mamatay before they investigated,” Remulla said, noting that police should have conducted an on-site investigation immediately after receiving the report.

Based on information gathered by Legada, after Police Capt. Jeffrey Delgado, chief of Iloilo City Police Station 2, received the report, investigators and the Scene of the Crime Operations team were supposed to proceed to Lamasan’s house.

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

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

When authorities later decided to return to the house, no one was present at the scene.

Investigators learned at St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo on Dec. 30, the day of the incident, that Lamasan was recovering in the intensive care unit following surgery.

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

Legada said he has ordered Delgado to submit a written explanation detailing the actions taken during the investigation.

He said the explanation must include written statements from the investigators involved in the case.

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

She was brought to St. Paul’s Hospital of Iloilo by her partner, Lord Byron Torrecarion, and her police bodyguard.

Lamasan died the afternoon of the following day.