MARIVELES, Bataan — After sacking the police chief here for ‘lack of trust by the PNP hierarchy,’ a Special Investigation Task Force (SITF) has been formed to look into the murder of a department head, while Lt. Col. Cesar Lumiwes was also designated as chief of police (COP)in this industrial town.
This was revealed by Col. Joel K. Tampis, Bataan police director, in a press briefing who said that the SITF is composed of various PNP units such as the Highway patrol, Criminal Investigation Unit, local police and others to ‘get to the bottom and work hand in hand’ to solve the killing of Jonathan dela Cruz, head of the town’s Management Information Service.
The creation of the SITG came following the sacking of Lt. Col. Nestor Chavez as COP of Mariveles for only a month due to what Tampis said as ‘lapses, lack of trust by the PNP hierarchy and failure to preserve evidences’ by Chavez.
“The celfon and dash cam of the victim should be immediately secured and taken by Chavez for us to retrieve possible clues on the killing but these were not done by Chavez,” lamented Tampis.
Meanwhile, Lumiwes, a former intelligence officer of the Bataan PNP command who held various top and sensitive positions in Zambales, has been designated as the new COP of this industrial town.
A graduate of the Philippine National Police Academy, Lumiwes was instrumental in solving a number of crimes and in neutralization of a number of NPA rebels in Bataan and Zambales during his stint.
Lumiwes was described in the PNP as a ‘silent worker’ and regarded by his colleagues in high esteem.
