By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO) director, Police Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil, Jr., confirmed Moises Padilla municipal police chief, Police Chief Inspector Alan Reloj, was relieved from his post, effective yesterday, and switched assignments with Pulupandan municipal police chief, Police Senior Inspector Alfred De Leon.
“It was my decision,” Castil affirmed.
While he did not provide any details into the reassignment, the NOPPO director earlier stated he would relieve Reloj from his post if there were any inconsistencies that arose in connection with last month’s arrest of Moises Padilla Vice Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo and her husband.
Castil earlier ordered an investigation into the matter after the vice mayor filed a complaint against Reloj.
Last month, Reloj led the arrest of the city official at a police checkpoint, where firearms, explosives, and suspected drugs were seized from the Yulos’ vehicle.
The couple later tested negative for illegal drugs and the substance recovered from their vehicle also tested negative for shabu.
Garcia-Yulo claimed the checkpoint was illegal and were later released from custody by order from the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office; however, despite the release order dated December 29, 2017, the couple was not released until January 5, 2018.
Aside from the Yulos, La Castellana Mayor Rhumyla Nicor Mangilimutan also filed administrative and criminal charges against Reloj after he linked her brother, La Castellana Town Councilor Alberto ‘White’ Nicor III, to illegal drugs last September./DGB, WDJ