A police chief in a town in Rizal province was sacked from his post because his men did not immediately act upon a robbery complaint of a businessman, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III announced on Monday.

In an ambush interview after a flag raising ceremony at Camp Crame Monday, Torre did not name the police official.

A businessman had reported two of his employees allegedly stole P600,000 but the policemen did not exert extra effort to locate the suspects. It was instead classified the case as solved due to a criminal case to be filed against the two.

“The employees suddenly disappeared with P600,000. The employers knew where they would be going because they were their long time employees. Initially, there was no effort on the part of the police,” Torre said.

The two suspects were only arrested only after Torre ordered coordination with the local police in a province in Negros Island region.

“I have to put my foot down to these inefficiencies that we observe. Our kababayans do not deserve those kinds of services. We are the national police and we have been telling the people that we are interconnected. All they have to do is dial 911, everybody knows that except one of my men, a chief of police. I cannot allow that,” Torre added.

Eight commanders in Metro Manila were previously relieved from their posts by Torre after their men failed to respond to calls within five minutes, one of the PNP chief's flagship programs. Velle White/DMS