BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office director Colonel Romeo Baleros is urging his policemen to exercise more caution when responding to calls for assistance in risky areas.
Baleros issued a memorandum to the mobile force companies and police stations in the province following the incident in Ayungon, Negros Oriental, which claimed the lives of four policemen.
“We sent a memo telling them to be extra cautious in responding to calls for police assistance,” he said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
On July 18, Patrolmans Raffy Callo, Roel Cabellon, Marquino de Leon and Corporal Relebert Beronio were killed in an ambush allegedly plotted by New People’s Army rebels.
The four cops were on their way to a detachment in Sitio Nabinca, Ayungon.
Baleros earlier condemned what he called barbaric and inhumane acts of the communist-terrorist group, and expressed his deepest sympathies to the families of their fallen comrades.
He said he reminded policemen in Negros Occidental to conduct a risk assessment of the area, which has presence of armed groups and criminals, before proceeding to respond.
“We want to prevent a duplication of the gruesome incident (in Ayungon),” the provincial police chief said.
Baleros further said he reminded his men to be alert in defending the police stations. (With a report form PNA/PN)
