Senior Inspector Gabriel Gutierrez is back as police chief of Ilog, Negros Occidental, effective today, after being cleared of a complaint about lapses in the performance of his duty filed against him before the office of PNP chief Avelino Razon.

Gutierrez yesterday said he is slated to report for duty as Ilog police chief on Monday.

Senior Supt. Rosendo Franco, provincial police director, cleared Gutierrez of liability in the complaint filed in connection with their investigations on the death of retired school teacher Rodolfo Gemora, 73, in Ilog last month.

The sudden and immediate relief of Gutierrez as Ilog police chief on Jan. 7 as ordered by Camp Crame , caught Franco and Ilog Mayor Joyce Alvarez off-guard.

Police have filed robbery with homicide charges against Marjun Demonteverde and Johnvic Bandolos, who were tagged in the brutal killing of Gemora in December last year.

Initial police investigations show that members of Gemora's family complained about the alleged failure of the Ilog police to arrest the suspects who were reportedly roaming around the town.

But Franco said they could not apprehend them as the court had not yet issued an arrest warrant against them.

He added that Camp Crame may have not been fully aware of the efforts of Ilog police in solving the crime.

Meanwhile, Franco also said he was satisfied with the explanation of Supt. Roderick Alba, in connection with the raid on a movie theatre owned by Councilor Warlito Go in Silay City , that was carried out by members of the Negros Occidental police Special Operations Group.

Alba said the establishment had already been monitored for showing pornographic films, and operations had been conducted by the Silay police in 2007 and in the previous year, that led to the confiscation of pornographic materials.

He, however, added that the theatre management resorted to the “kangaroo type” of operation, when they sensed a planned operation against them.

Go and his two employees, as well as two teenagers, have been charged for violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code and RA 7610, or Child Abuse Act.

The Negros Occidental police used its Special Operations Group, in coordination with the Silay police, in the raid at the movie theatre of Go.*GPB

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