Gen. Debold Sinas, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has approved the recommendation to relieve the chief of police Makati City and two others over the alleged mishandling of the case of flight attendant Christine Angelica Dacera.

Sinas said the relief of the Makati City police chief is for command responsibility while the two other police investigators were sacked while investigation is ongoing to determine possible lapses and negligence in the conduct of the probe.

“All of them will be momentarily relieved from their posts because of the internal investigation ongoing. But their services might still be needed for the smooth transfer of documentary evidence,” said Sinas.

Dacera was found dead in an empty bathtub of the City Garden Grand Hotel in Makati City on January 1, or after the New Year party attended by the flight attendant and her friends.

It was the local police who initially floated that Dacera was raped and killed. The local police even held three of the partygoers and later filed a case of rape with homicide.

Sinas himself gave a 72-hour ultimatum for the rest of the respondents on the case filed before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office or face arrest. He also insisted that Dacera was raped.

The setback, however, came after the prosecutors ordered the release of the three suspects under police custody for lack of evidence that would establish that Dacera was raped and killed. The order technically stopped the PNP from arresting other suspects.

Sinas said he would leave Maj. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), to implement his decision.

Sinas also stressed that his decision would not affect the conduct of preliminary investigation on the case of Dacera.

“They will be subjected to relief and the relief is not immediate. It's just a recommendation and I leave that to the RD NCRPO to implement, the recommendation which I already approved.  It's up to the RD NCRPO to implement it immediately,” said Sinas.