ILOILO City – The newly installed director of the Guimaras Police Provincial Office (GPPO) said he would focus on the security measures in six seaports of the island to prevent drug traffickers from making the province a transshipment point.
The goal is to minimize or eradicate illegal drugs in Guimaras, stressed Police Colonel Hector Maestral.
He, however, made it clear that the illegal drug problem in Guimaras is manageable and that there are no drug groups operating in the island, only individual pushers and users.
“We have no high-value targets but we know our seaports are being used by drug traffickers,” said Maestral.
Guimaras’ seaports are the following:
* Jordan wharf in Barangay Rizal, Jordan
* McArthur wharf in Barangay Sto. Rosario, Buenavista
* Tumanda wharf in Barangay Cabano, San Lorenzo
* Sebaste wharf in Sibunag
* Cabalagnan wharf in Nueva Valencia
* Puyo wharf in Poblacion Nueva Valencia
Maestral said he would coordinate with the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to help monitor these seaports that serve boats and passengers from and going to Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, and Iloilo City.
For his part, Guimaras’ Gov. Samuel Gumarin is planning to install closed-circuit television cameras in all these seaports to help monitor the entry of illegal drugs.
Police Regional Office 6 director Police Brigadier General John Bualacao said drug traffickers from Bacolod City and Negros Occidental use Guimaras seaports to transport their contrabands to Iloilo./PN
