The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Negros Oriental is maintaining a pro-active posture with strengthened security measures in place to avert more possible attacks by the Communist New People’s Army (NPA) terror group in the province.
Acting PNP provincial director Sr. Supt. Henry Biñas stressed on Friday that the NPA employs “treacherous tactics” to go after the police and military, and their usual targets are the “vulnerable and weak”.
Sr. Supt. Biñas further disclosed they are now validating reports that alleged hitmen of the NPA, known as the SPARU (Special Partisan Regional Unit), were seen at the vicinity of the house of one of the three policemen who were wounded in the July 21 ambush in Guihulngan.
The non-commissioned police officer had been discharged from the hospital and had already returned home when the alleged liquidation squad members of the NPA were observed near his house.
Biñas declined to give more details but assured that security measures are in place to give full protection to the people in Guihulngan and elsewehere in the province.
To avoid a repeat of the Guihulngan ambush, where six policemen, including the police chief, and a civilian were killed, the provincial police director has ordered his men to do prior validation and confirmation before responding to a call for assistance as it could be a set up.
He apologized to the public for some delays in their response time but the police cannot be too reckless these days as the call for help could turn out to be false information and worse, a trap.
Sr. Supt. Biñas cited as an example a recent shooting incident in Barangay Malaiba, Canlaon City in the northernmost part of Negros Oriental, where policemen could have been killed in an ambush if they had responded that night to the crime scene.
In that incident, the victim, Marjun Merculita Sabio, 29, married and a resident of Barangay Malaiba, was shot several times with a caliber .45 handgun by an unidentified suspect somewhere near the river around 7:30 p.m. on July 29, about a week after the Guihulngan ambush.
Before responding, the Canlaon City police through their Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) had the incident verified and the surroundings checked for unusual activity.
The police were told not to proceed to the crime scene as it was not safe for them, so they proceeded instead to the Guihulngan District Hospital where the victim was brought for treatment.
The victim, however, was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Canlaon City police chief, Chief. Insp. Wilfredo Alarcon disclosed on Friday that his police personnel the following day proceeded to the crime scene, where they learned from residents and the BIN that a large group of unidentified persons were hiding in the cover of darkness near the site where Sabio was shot dead.
Alarcon said it appeared very obvious that the perpetrators were preparing to ambush the policemen who would have responded to the shooting of Sabio.
Sr. Supt. Biñas has advised his men and women in the police force to exercise extra caution and validate information first when received calls for assistance, especially during nighttime. (Judy Flores Partlow)