Olea case jitters? Iriga police chief sacked

NAGA City (July 2 2011) – Apparently feeling enormous public pressure to produce results on a high-profile case, the Provincial Police Office of Camarines Sur sacked the police chief of Iriga City for being too slow to resolve the ambush-slay of broadcaster Romeo Olea.

PS/Supt. Procopio Lipana, the OIC Provincial Director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) , confirmed today the relief of P/S Ronald Briones on the ground of inefficiency.

Lipana admitted that Task force Olea, a special investigation body that he heads, is now under pressure from higher headquarters to immediately solve the case but is hitting a snag because of the slow progress of the investigation at the level of PNP Iriga City, which is the lead investigating unit of the murder.

The relief of Briones was a prompt recommendation of the heads of Regional Police Office who are apprehensive that Briones' continued stay as Iriga police chief could result in non-resolution of the Olea killing, Lipana said without going into details.

Despite previous optimistic pronouncements from the police leadership of claimed positive leads in the case, the PNP has not been able to produce a witness to the Olea killing and the motive of the crime is still not clear to the investigators.

According to PS/Supt. Lipana the task force shall double its efforts because any delay in the resolution of the case would leave the perpetrators at large longer and capable of commiting the same offense.

P/Supt. Gerry Biares replaces P/Supt. Ronald Briones and is tasked to finish the investigation of the Olea case. Briones shall now detailed at the Provincial Police Office. (With reports from Noriel Oya)