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[av_heading heading=’SPARE JANIUAY, REBELS TOLD | NPA sighted in 8 hinterland villages’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY RUBY P. SILUBRICO
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Tuesday, June 27, 2017
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ILOILO City – The municipality of Janiuay, Iloilo could be the next target of the New People’s Army (NPA).
Rebels were sighted in eight hinterland barangays of Janiuay, said Mayor Jose “Jojo” de Paula.
Janiuay is adjacent to the town of Maasin that rebels attacked on June 18. They divested the town’s police station of firearms and ammunitions.
Rebels were spotted in the villages of Tambal, Anhawan, Caraudan, Ubian, Atimonan, Canawili, Agcarope, and Cunsad, said de Paula.
“These villages have forested areas where rebels have been seen staying,” de Paula told Panay News.
Janiuay is 33 kilometers northwest of Iloilo City. It has 60 barangays. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 63,905 people.
“I call on the rebels not to do atrocities in our town. Janiuay is peaceful,” said de Paula.
The most recent rebel sighting was in Barangay Tambal before the police station of Maasin was raided, he said.
De Paula has summoned barangay captains, policemen, barangay tanods and other concerned agencies to a security meeting tomorrow.
“We had an initial discussion with some barangay officials Friday last week but I want to meet all of them,” he said.
That Friday, the municipal hall of Janiuay received a bomb threat. A municipal government employee received a text message from an unknown sender about a bomb left somewhere in the town hall.
The Explosive and Ordnance Division of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) was asked to check the municipal hall. No explosive device was found.
Aside from Maasin and Janiuay, other towns that reported NPA sightings were Alimodian, Leon, Passi City, San Joaquin, Miag-ao, Guimbal, Igbaras, Tubungan, Bingawan, Calinog, and Lambunao.
New IPPO director Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba said it is not enough for police stations to be on the defensive. The times call for offensives against the insurgents, he stressed.
During a visit to the Maasin police station on Friday, General Ronald Dela Rosa, the Philippine National Police director, reminded all police stations in the country of their responsibility to “fight till death once attacked.”
“I am very disappointed. They were nine on duty here (when the rebels attacked) but none of them fired a single bullet,” lamented Dela Rosa, referring to the Maasin police force.
Do not be complacent, Tayaba told his police chiefs.
“Our police chiefs and their men should enhance their defenses and be on offensive mode. They should not stay inside their stations. They should make sure they have men outside monitoring the movement of people,” said Tayaba.
He also stressed the importance of enhancing the police intelligence network with civilians.
Tayaba, former director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Region 6, replaced Senior Superintendent Harold Tuzon as IPPO director on June 21, three days after the Maasin raid.
His most recent assignment was at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as Public Safety Battalion commander./PN
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