It was all an accident. This is the contention of Secretary Juanito Victor (Jonvic) Remulla of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the death of Aimee Paz Lamasan, vice mayor of Dueñas, Iloilo.

Based on their investigation, the incident turned out to be accidental firing.

Along with Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, officer in charge of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Remulla visited the wake of Lamasan in Dueñas, Iloilo morning on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.

According to Remulla, Lamasan was with her live-in partner, Lord Byron Torrecarion, when the incident happened.

Lamasan was said to be putting away her race gun but erred in handling, discharging the weapon by accident.

“Sa nakita namin talagang accidental firing and the bullet used was lethal, hollow point eh, wala siyang exit wound and kumalat ang bala sa loob. So, we looked at all the possible angles, pinatay ba siya? Hindi, nagpakamatay ba siya?” Remulla pointed out.

Despite this, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Special Investigation Task Group created by Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 will proceed with their investigation.

The CIDG will summon once again Torrecarion, Lamasan’s live-in partner, for his official statement.

“We will be continuing to get the statements coming from the attending physicians and countercheck with the crime laboratory. We have initially interviewed him but we have to formally interview him, I have subpoenaed him,” MGen. Robert Alexander Morico II, director of the CIDG, said.

Further, Remulla expressed dissatisfaction with the investigation done by the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO). He added that the police were late in conducting an investigation.

“All gun fire injuries are automatically investigated. They investigated 36 hours later, hinintay pa nila na mamatay si vice mayor saka nila inin-vestigate. They should’ve investigated immediately at the scene of the crime, they didn’t go to the scene of the crime so we had to re-create everything,” Remulla pointed out.

Col. Kim Legada, ICPO director, admitted their lapses in the investigation.

“For us during that time na nag-start ang incident, may delays sa part ng ICPO,” Legada said.

The DILG and the PNP underscored that Lamasan’s death is not yet considered “case-closed.”

Lamasan’s burial was set afternoon on January 7 in the Municipality of Dueñas.