BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
ILOILO City – Twenty police chiefs failed to clear at least two barangays in their respective turfs.
Of Iloilo’s 42 towns, only 15 police chiefs managed to comply with the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) order issued May this year. The police chiefs were given three months to do the clearing. The deadline was on Monday, Sept. 1.
In a validation conference yesterday at the IPPO, eight police chiefs had cleared only one barangay in their turfs.
Senior Superintendent Cornelio Salinas, IPPO director, said he would give another chance to the police chiefs concerned.
“Our police chiefs are not robots. There were some problems, the reasons why they failed,” Salinas said.
Most police chiefs complained that many barangay officials were uncooperative, he said.
Others failed to organize their Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (Badacs), Salinas added.
Town police chiefs that failed to comply were from Guimbal, Leganes, Pavia, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Cabatuan, Calinog, Maasin, Dingle, San Enrique, Ajuy, Balasan, Concepcion, San Dionisio, Batad, Carles, Barotac Viejo, Barotac Nuevo, Janiuay, and Anilao.
They have one more month to comply with the directive, said Salinas.
“Most police chiefs who failed were officers-in-charge or newly installed,” said Salinas.
Police chiefs that managed to clear only one barangay in their turfs were Tigbauan, Alimodian, New Lucena, Badiangan, Banate, Dueñas, Dumangas, and Sara.
There were 372 drug-affected barangays in the province; only 82 have been cleared said Salinas./PN