By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Following the New People’s Army (NPA) attack on the Maasin Municipal Police Station in Iloilo province, Police Regional Office-18 (PRO-18) director, Police Chief Superintendent Edmund Gonzales, ordered all units under his command to strengthen police stations.
In a Facebook message passed by the PRO-18 Regional Public Information Office (RPIO), Gonzales reiterated to the police directors of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOPPO), Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOrPPO), and the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) to tighten security measures inside their police stations.
He also reminded police chiefs there should be a continuous engagement between cops and the communities they serve, while personnel on duty should never let their guard down.
The regional director emphasized timely intelligence gathering by every station in the region in order to prevent or counter any attacks by the NPA.
Gonzales added he has intensified coastal monitoring in the central and northern parts of the province to prevent the NPA from travelling between Negros and Panay islands.
Earlier on Sunday, an estimated 70-member team of the NPA attacked the Maasin Municipal Police Station and overpowered the cops inside.
Although no one was killed or injured in the incident, the attacking force took the police station’s firearms, two laptops, P29,000 in cash, and their patrol vehicle, which was later recovered in neighboring Alimodian.
Following the incident, all 23 police officers assigned at Maasin Municipal Police Station were relieved of their posts and replaced by personnel from the Regional Public Safety Battalion-6 (RPSB-6)./WDJ