URDANETA CITY—The police chief here was relieved from his post pending investigation of the missing 41 firearms of the Urdaneta City Police Station.

P/Supt. Marcelino Desamito Jr was replaced by Supt. Jackie Candelario, deputy police director for operations and information officer of the Pangasinan Police Office, in a concurrent capacity.

Desamito was temporarily assigned to the regional police office since January 13.

Nine other Urdaneta City policemen were removed from their posts and were assigned to the Police Provincial Office to pave the way for an impartial investigation.

In an earlier interview, Candelario said the missing guns are 9 mm and caliber .22, some of which were Philippine National Police (PNP) issued while others were donated by the city government.

But Mayor Amadeo Gregorio Perez IV denied the city government donate such firearms to the city police.

Perez’s statement was corroborated by City Administrator Ronald San Juan.

But in a separate interview with P/Senior Supt. Ronald Lee, officer-in-charge as provincial director, insisted that part of the missing firearms came from the city government’s donation.

The missing firearms were discovered during an inventory made on December 8 by the supply officer of the police station.

Initial investigations showed many of the missing firearms were either reportedly pawned or sold to private individuals, Candelario said.

As of press time, about 23 of the 41 missing firearms have been recovered and turned over to the city police station.

Lee said more heads will roll depending on the progress of the ongoing investigation. (Tita Roces)

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