By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga and Tara Yap

While speaking during the recognition rites for Class Dakila of the Public Safety Basic Recruit (PSBR), Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Director General Ronald Dela Rosa, expressed his disappointment at law enforcement in light of the Maasin Municipal Police Station incident, where police officers were disarmed and handcuffed by the New People’s Army (NPA).
“They just gave up their arms to the rebel group without even fighting back,” he stated.
Dela Rosa said he does not want to see “cowardly police officers.”
Last weekend, an estimated 70-member team of NPA rebels raided the Maasin Municipal Police Station and overpowered law enforcement, stealing government-issued firearms, ammunition, and personal belongings.
According to Police Regional Office-6 (PRO-6) director, Police Chief Superintendent Cesar Hawthorne Binag, the PNP chief urged the public to support the police and appealed for mutual respect and cooperation.
He noted it was “impossible” that nobody saw the incoming truck carrying the NPA rebels before it reached the police station.
Dela Rosa also took a swipe at corrupt police officers, illustrating what a police officer job is supposed to be.
“Service in the PNP means you have to implement the law and not about raising wealth or giving protection to criminal syndicates,” the PNP chief stated./WDJ