SEN. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. has called for the removal of Chief Supt. James Melad as chief of the Calabarzon Region, which comprises the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon.

Revilla said that Melad should take the blame for the slow response of the provincial police office to the shooting rampage in Kawit, Cavite that lasted for over an hour and left at least eight people dead.

The senator said that Melad reshuffled the Cavite police and removed almost all local police chiefs and provincial directors. He added that the officers he assigned to the province “have no knowledge and familiarity with Cavite.”

Because the Kawit police force arrived 30 minutes late and the provincial police command took an hour to respond to reports that a crazed man was on a shooting rampage, Revilla said that Melad “has blood on his hands.”

According to him, the relief of Kawit police chief Joel Saliba is not enough because Melad and Provincial Director Alex Rafael are equally responsible for the “blunder” committed by responding police officers.

Revilla said that the delayed police response allowed Ronald Bae to shoot over a dozen people resulting in multiple deaths and injuries.

The senator received information from Kawit residents who witnessed the incident that the police officers who arrived appeared to be clueless on what to do to stop the killer.

“I pose a challenge to the PNP [Philippine National Police] leadership and to the DILG [Department of the Interior and Local Governments] to also relieve Regional Director Melad and Provincial Director Rafael who are equally responsible for this boo-boo,” Revilla said in a statement.

Bae killed eight persons and injured at least 11 others when he went berserk in Barangay Tabon 1 in Kawit on Friday. Bae started shooting people at 9:30 a.m. and was shot dead by policemen at 11 a.m.

Gov. Jonvic Remulla of Cavite also slammed Rafael, for the shoddy police action.

“He is more interested in politicking than in performing his duties,” Remulla told the Manila Times.

Remulla said that the first thing that Rafael did when he replaced Senior Supt. John Bulalacao in November was to remove all the security men assigned to the office of the governor. He also did the same to other officials “because they were not allies of the Liberal Party [LP],” the political party of President Benigno Aquino 3rd, and who is running for governor in May.

Remulla’s Partido Magdalo and Revilla’s Lakas party joined forces against the Liberal Party last year. Revilla’s son, Jolo, will be Remulla’s runningmate in the upcoming midterm elections. The Remulla-Revilla tandem will slug it out with the LP’s Rep. Erineo “Ayong” Maliksi and Ronald Jay Lacson, son of Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

Remulla said that the shooting rampage showed Rafael’s incompetence.

“I rushed to the scene of the crime and stayed there between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and during this entire period, I did not see even his shadow,” Remulla said. “In contrast, then police chief John Bulalacao took immediate effective action whenever he received reports of indiscriminate firing.”

Revilla agreed with Remulla’s statement that the province’s police officials are more interested in politics.

“It looks like these police officers have politics on top of their agenda instead of peace and order,” the senator said.

On Saturday, Melad ordered the relief of Saliba and his deputy.

On Friday, Bae’s alleged cohort, John Paul Lopez, surrendered to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. Lopez said that he was threatened by Bae to reload his gun during his shooting rampage.

Bae’s car found
Meanwhile, Bae’s abandoned car was found on Sunday in Silang, Cavite.

Police Officer 3 April Joe Ambojia of the Silang police said that the car, with plate number WFX-975 was abandoned near the Premier Plaza at the Junction of J.P. Rizal Street and Aguinaldo Highway in Silang.

The vehicle’s window was broken and the ignition key destroyed. A toy gun and medical records of Maria Elena Aguilar Bae, wife of the killer, were found. The ultrasound report on Maria Elena showed that she was pregnant.

The car was registered to Maria Elena and her husband Ronald.

Ambojia said that it was possible that the car was driven by Lopez when he escaped shortly after the shooting spree.

Major Reynaldo Magdaluyo said that Lopez will be charged with frustrated murder for conspiring with Bae.