ILOILO City – Wary of streamers hanged around the metro claiming that rebels were “becoming stronger,” Senior Superintendent Martin Defensor, city police director, ordered his men to be on full alert on Christmas.
Uniformed personnel of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) will not have a Christmas break, said Defensor, adding that police visibility should be heightened in areas of convergence like malls and terminals.
“I know that the rebels will not do atrocities in Iloilo City but we don’t want to be complacent. It’s better that we are ready all the time,” the ICPO chief stressed.
Streamers bearing the slogan “Ang rebulosyonaryo kag pakipaglaban padayon nga nagabaskog” were found along the streets of City Proper and La Paz district on Dec. 20.
Defensor said he has already ordered his personnel to take the streamers down.
The streamers appeared a few days before the New People’s Army’s 50th anniversary on Dec. 26.
“I have an instruction for our men to be alert and to be heavily armed, especially during nighttime,” said Defensor.
Moreover, Defensor said some of his men were deployed wearing civilian clothes to inconspicuously monitor the movement of lawless elements.
“Our intelligence officers have been deployed since last month. They are now roaming the city streets,” he added.
Citing intelligence information, police said rebels have been spotted in Jaro district.
In light of the alleged presence of rebels in the city, the Armed Forces of the Philippines put themselves on full alert, too, Defensor said.
The Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division has deployed its soldiers to detachments located in far-flung villages across Western Visayas to counter possible rebel attacks or harassments.
Major General Dinoh Dolina, 3rd ID commander, said his men were sent to “rebel-infested” areas where offensive operations are likely to happen./PN
