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BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Tuesday, June 20, 2017
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ILOILO City – Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa sacked Senior Superintendent Harold Tuzon as director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) a day after New People’s Army (NPA) rebels raided the police station of Maasin town.
Tuzon was temporarily assigned at the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), said Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Western Visayas police director.
The PRO-6 deputy director for operations Senior Superintendent Christopher Tambungan was tasked to concurrently lead the IPPO.
“Tuzon is a very active police director but one of his police chiefs was ineffective,” said Tambungan.
He was referring to sacked Maasin police chief, Senior Inspector Ray Cordero.
“Command responsibility” played a great part in the decision to relieve Tuzon, said Binag.
“It’s normal in our organization. We (police commanders are) held liable for whatever lapses of our men,” he explained.
On Sunday right after the NPA raid, Binag ordered the relief of Cordero and the 22 other police officers of Maasin. The PRO-6’s Regional Public Safety Battalion temporarily took over the police station but yesterday the IPPO’s Iloilo Public Safety Company was tasked to man it with Senior Inspector Kent Jerek Capadosa as commander.
The PRO-6 spokesperson Superintendent Gilbert Gorero said Tuzon’s sacking was based on the “one-strike” policy of the PNP.
Under this policy, a municipal station raided by armed groups would result to the immediate relief of the police provincial director, he explained.
Early this month, the IPPO disclosed that NPA rebels were planning to attack the police stations of 15 towns, including that of Maasin.
The information came from residents of hinterland barangays, said Chief Inspector Aron Palomo, IPPO spokesperson.
The police stations of the following towns were then put on red alert: Maasin, San Joaquin, Guimbal, Miag-ao, Tubungan, Igbaras, Alimodian, Leon, Calinog, Bingawan, Badiangan, San Enrique, Passi City, San Rafael, and Lemery.
Mountainous villages of these towns were rebel-infested, said Palomo.
The police chiefs of the 15 towns were instructed to never leave their stations unmanned. On Sunday, however, around 50 rebels outnumbered the nine police officers guarding the Maasin police station./PN
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