PEACE AND ORDER MEETING. Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran and Department of the Interior and Local Government City Director Joy Maredith Madayag preside over the regular peace and order council meeting at the Bacolod City Government Center.*(EAD-PIA6 photo)
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CHIEF Superintendent Cesar Binag, director of Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas, ordered on Monday the immediate arrest of Bacolod City’s high-value target drug personality Ramy Poja. Binag issued the directive in a press briefing after he led the awarding of outstanding policemen and turnover of motorcycles and guns to the Bacolod City Police Office. “Naiinip na ako. Kailangang mahuli na siya kaagad," (I’m getting impatient, he (Poja) should be arrested immediately,” Binag said. On February 25, personnel of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Negros Occidental with operatives from City Drug Enforcement Unit, Regional Intelligence Unit, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Bacolod served an arrest warrant against Poja at Sitio Sibucao in Barangay Banago past midnight. He was able to escape when he allegedly threw two explosives at the operatives which did not explode. The police were able to arrest two members of Poja's drug group identified as Roberto Rodriguez Jr. of Barangay Mandalagan, and Steve Libo-on, who were inside separate rooms at the house. Upon sensing the presence of operatives, Rodriguez poured gasoline on his body and torched himself. The operatives then helped him put out the fire. PDEA-Negros Occidental officer-in-charge agent Grace Cruz and her two agents sustained first degree burns while Rodriguez suffered third degree burns. Operatives confiscated four sachets of suspected “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride), drug paraphernalia, firearms, ammunition, and explosives. Rodriguez was placed under hospital arrest while Libo-on is detained at Police Station 3 for filing of charges for illegal possession of dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia, and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. The CIDG will file illegal possession of explosives case against Poja. Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said Monday the relaunching of Oplan Tokhang could reduce the supply of illegal drugs in Bacolod. Familiaran said the Oplan Tokang of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is a big help to increase the apprehension of drug personalities, including those in Bacolod. He noted that the PNP has more personnel than PDEA. “If we can stop the entry of illegal drugs then, we can reduce the users. If there are no illegal drugs, there will be no drug users,” Familiaran added. Last year, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the PNP to actively support the PDEA in the war on illegal drugs. On Saturday, at least 2,000 participants joined the “Lakad (Lipunon at Kalampagin Ang Droga) Tokhong” in Bacolod. They marched from the Bacolod public plaza towards the Provincial Capitol Lagoon for the signing of the pledge of commitment led by Mayor Evelio Leonardia, Familiaran, with Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr., director of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, and Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, officer-in-charge of Bacolod City Police Office. “It will now depend on the Bacolod police how they will implement the Oplan Tokhang effectively in various barangays (villages),” Familiaran said. He said the BCPO is also receiving a monthly assistance from the City Government for their operations and office supplies. Familiaran encouraged the public to cooperate with the police to arrest the drug personalities in the villages. By GLAZYL Y MASCULINOMERLINDA A. PEDROSA Chief Supt. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Western Visayas regional police director, yesterday ordered the Bacolod City Police Office personnel to go after Ramy Poja, a drug group leader, who evaded arrest in Barangay Banago, Bacolod, Saturday. “They should get Poja,” Binag, who expressed impatiencewith the failure to arrest the elusive suspect, said yesterday. Poja, who is ranked as a high-value target, has escaped three times, always by tossing hand grenades at thepolice. He did this on August 19, 2015, on July 19, 2016 and again on Saturday. Binag said the regional and national police have neutralized Richard Prevendido, a top drug lord in Western Visayas; Arturo Balume Sr. and his son Arturo Jr., who are members of a drug group operating in Iloilo province; and Antonio Aquino, the top most wanted person of the region. The BCPO should also do the same and arrest Poja, Binag said. Grace Cruz, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Negros Occidental, said yesterday that Poja had pending warrants of arrest for drugs and murder charges. Members of the PDEA-6, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Bacolod, and Bacolod City Drug Enforcement Unit, swooped down on the house of Poja in Sitio Sibucao, Barangay Banago on Saturday to serve the arrest warrants against him. However, Poja escaped by throwing hand grenades at the arresting team. Luckily, the grenades did not explode. Cruz said that while the police were on the way to the house of Poja, his neighbors lit firecrackers as a signal they were coming. The police, meanwhile, arrested two members of the Poja Drug Group, identified as Roberto Rodriguez, alias “Togle”, and Steve Liboon. Rodriguez, who sustained third-degree burns after he poured gasoline on his body and lit it, is recuperating at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Cruz said. Four PDEA agents also sustained minor burns but they are now in stable condition, she added. The operation, meanwhile, yielded four heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets of suspected shabu weighing about five grams, with an estimated street-value of P25,000, several drugs paraphernalia, two hand grenades, a .22 caliber revolver with five live ammunition, an M-16 magazine with 18 live ammunition, a magazine for a 9mm pistol with five live ammunition, and six live ammunition for 12-gauge shotgun, PDEA records show. Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran yesterday urged cooperation from the community following reports that the neighbors of Poja help him escape, by giving him signals that policemen are on their way to his house, such as lighting fireworks. If the police find that sealing off the area will work, then they should do it. But the most important thing is the cooperation of the community, Familiaran said. A community helping or protecting drug personalities does not only happen in one area, but in other places,too,because that person may have been a “Robin Hood” to them, or they are relatives, Familiaran added.*SGG BY SHIELA G. GELERA BACOLOD. Chief Supt. Cesar Binag, regional director of PRO-Western Visayas, checks out one of the eight Tavor sub-machine guns turned over to the Bacolod City Police Office led by Senior Supt. Francisco Ebreo (left), in the presence of Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran (2nd from left) and Councilor Ricardo Tan (right) at the BCPO headquarters Monday. (PCR-Bacolod City Police Office Photo) MORE policemen will be deployed to Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) this year, said Chief Superintendent Cesar Binag, director of Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas on Monday. Binag, who led the awarding of personnel and turnover of equipment ceremonies at the BCPO headquarters, said he ordered the designation of additional personnel for Bacolod and they will be deployed soon. “I do not have the exact number, but I assure you that there will be more policemen to be assigned here,” he said. In January, about 300 augmentation personnel from the PRO-Western Visayas were pulled out from Bacolod City for deployment to Iloilo City. Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran said he is thankful to Binag for promising the deployment of more police personnel. He said the City Council had earlier passed a resolution addressed to Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald de la Rosa asking for additional police force for Bacolod. The city official added that BCPO needs more policemen to meet the ideal policeman-population ratio of 1:500. Familiaran noted that BCPO has a total of 600 policemen and it is not enough to maintain the city’s peace and order. He recalled that in October 2017, hundreds of augmentation personnel from PRO-Western Visayas were deployed in Bacolod for visibility patrol which decreased the crime incidents. “The presence of policemen on the streets is a big help to maintain the peace and order and we should to do continue this,” Familiaran said. BCPO records showed crime incidents in Bacolod decreased by 34.38 percent, or by 77 incidents from February 1 to 20 this year compared to the same period in 2017. By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA The Police Regional Office-6 turned over two body cameras, eight Tavor sub-machine guns, and 10 motorcycles to the Bacolod City Police Office at the BCPO compound at Magsaysay Avenue in Bacolod, yesterday. Details on the total cost of the equipment turned over to the BCPO, however were not available up to last night. The body cameras are for the Bacolod City Drug Enforcement Unit, the sub-machine guns will be given to the Special Weapons and Tactics unit, and the 10 motorcycles will be distributed to the 10 Bacolod police stations. Chief Supt. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, PRO-6 regional director, who led the turnover of the equipment, said he demands big results, such as improved response time and increased police visibility, from the BCPO personnel with the new equipment given to them. Binag said body cameras have been issued to the Regional Drugs Enforcement Units and also to the provincial DEU, so now they are giving it to the Bacolod CDEU, that is included in the 2018 budget of the Philippine National Police. “Hopefully, the dream isfor all the drug enforcement teams down tothe municipal police station to have body cameras. For the meantime, the RDEU, PDEU, and CDEU are the priority,” Binag said. These body cameras are for transparency of the operation, and for the operatives to be mindful of their police operational procedure (POP) or the rules of engagement in conducting raids, serving of search warrants, and warrants of arrest. “We already lowered the crimes, so the public now want that if the police cannot record zero crimes, the police should be there when crimes happen,” Binag said. More capability enhancement are coming to the Bacolod police force, including patrol cars and additional police personnel, Binag added. Bacolod vice mayor El Cid Familiaran, councilors Ricardo Tan and Noli Villarosa, Bacolod executive assistant and retired Senior Supt. Celestino Guara, and Supt. Joeresty Coronica, NOPPO’s deputy provincial director for administration, were present at the turnover.*SGG BACOLOD City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran admitted that the city’s waste segregation program is a failure because residents are still not observing the proper ways of disposing garbage. Familiaran said the number of barangays violating the Republic Act 9003 or Ecological Solid Waste Management Act has increased from 33 to 36, based on the evaluation of the Solid Waste Enforcement and Educators Team (Sweet). The erring barangays are engaged in illegal dumping of garbage in certain areas within their respective barangays. So far, villages initially listed as violators are Barangays 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24, 28, 29, 35, 38,40, Alijis, Banago, Bata, Cabug, Estefania, Granada, Handumanan, Mandalagan, Mansilingan, Pahanocoy, Singcang-Airport, Taculing, Tangub, Villamonte, and Vista Alegre. Familiaran said villages added to the list are Barangays Punta Taytay, 39 and 10. He said the City has no enforcement team as of this time because it is only the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that can do the enforcement and its deputization is required so that the City can do it. The DENR will be the one to file charges against the erring barangays. Familiaran said if households cannot segregate their wastes, the barangays will do the segregation by putting up a materials recovery facility, while the City Government will collect the residual wastes and deliver it to the sanitary landfill. By TERESA D. ELLERA BACOLOD City officials allied with Mayor Evelio Leonardia are optimistic that the plan to build the Bacolod Sports and Cultural Center/Coliseum preferably on the city’s eight-hectare property at the Reclamation Area will push through. Led by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, Councilor Caesar Distrito and his Grupo Progreso party-mates Councilors Em Ang, Cindy Rojas, Bartolome Orola, Dindo Ramos, Renecito Novero, and Elmer Sy underscored the need for such facility. “It is high time for Bacolod City to have a Sports and Cultural Center/Coliseum preferably to be located at the eight-hectare property of the city at the Reclamation Area or any other area where a landowner is willing to donate his property for the city,” the group said. “If we will utilize the three hectares for coliseum with commercial and office spaces, swimming pool, training areas for our athletes and parking lot, the other five hectares can be opened for lease or joint ventures with interested commercial or mall developers where the city can earn to help pay whatever spent for the said structure,” it added. The officials also said that the city will also have "another growth and development area that can propel our local economy, produce jobs and generate tourism" with the construction of the sports and cultural center. By CARLA N. CAÑET Chief Supt. Cesar Hawthorne Binag, Western Visayas regional police director, yesterday ordered the Bacolod City Police Office personnel to go after Ramy Poja, a drug group leader, who evaded arrest in Barangay Banago, Bacolod, Saturday. “They should get Poja,” Binag, who expressed impatiencewith the failure to arrest the elusive suspect, said yesterday. Poja, who is ranked as a high-value target, has escaped three times, always by tossing hand grenades at thepolice. He did this on August 19, 2015, on July 19, 2016 and again on Saturday. Binag said the regional and national police have neutralized Richard Prevendido, a top drug lord in Western Visayas; Arturo Balume Sr. and his son Arturo Jr., who are members of a drug group operating in Iloilo province; and Antonio Aquino, the top most wanted person of the region. The BCPO should also do the same and arrest Poja, Binag said. Grace Cruz, officer-in-charge of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Negros Occidental, said yesterday that Poja had pending warrants of arrest for drugs and murder charges. Members of the PDEA-6, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Bacolod, and Bacolod City Drug Enforcement Unit, swooped down on the house of Poja in Sitio Sibucao, Barangay Banago on Saturday to serve the arrest warrants against him. However, Poja escaped by throwing hand grenades at the arresting team. Luckily, the grenades did not explode. Cruz said that while the police were on the way to the house of Poja, his neighbors lit firecrackers as a signal they were coming. The police, meanwhile, arrested two members of the Poja Drug Group, identified as Roberto Rodriguez, alias “Togle”, and Steve Liboon. Rodriguez, who sustained third-degree burns after he poured gasoline on his body and lit it, is recuperating at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, Cruz said. Four PDEA agents also sustained minor burns but they are now in stable condition, she added. The operation, meanwhile, yielded four heat-sealed transparent plastic sachets of suspected shabu weighing about five grams, with an estimated street-value of P25,000, several drugs paraphernalia, two hand grenades, a .22 caliber revolver with five live ammunition, an M-16 magazine with 18 live ammunition, a magazine for a 9mm pistol with five live ammunition, and six live ammunition for 12-gauge shotgun, PDEA records show. Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran yesterday urged cooperation from the community following reports that the neighbors of Poja help him escape, by giving him signals that policemen are on their way to his house, such as lighting fireworks. If the police find that sealing off the area will work, then they should do it. But the most important thing is the cooperation of the community, Familiaran said. A community helping or protecting drug personalities does not only happen in one area, but in other places,too,because that person may have been a “Robin Hood” to them, or they are relatives, Familiaran added.*SGG BY SHIELA G. GELERA About 2,000 police officers, force multipliers, and representatives from various agencies and stakeholders joined the simultaneous launching of LAKAD Tokhang (Lipunin At Kalampagin Ang Droga) in Bacolod City, Saturday. Senior Supt. Francisco Ebreo, Bacolod City Police Office officer-in-charge, said their records show that 2,185 police officers from Bacolod and Negros Occidental, personnel of the Department of Education, barangay officials, media, and representatives from the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the National Bureau of Investigation participated in the activity. The LAKAD Tokhang is a “People's Walk” to ask for support from the community on the TokhangRelaunched and Double Barrel Reloaded. Participants marched from the Bacolod City Public Plaza to the Provincial Capitol Lagoon, where a program was held. Officials of Bacolod and Negros Occidental also signed the pledge of commitment to the LAKAD Tokhang campaign of the Philippine National Police. The activity aims to raise awareness on the ill-effects of drugs and encourage the community to be actively involved in the campaign against it. “There is a limit to what the Philippine National Police can do against illegal drugs, but the community, through a whole-nation approach, can do much,” Ebreo said. Bacolod Mayor EvelioLeonardia, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, and Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office director Senior Supt. Rodolfo Castil Jr. were present during the activity.*SGG BY SHIELA GELERA THE Environment Management Board (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is awaiting the recommendation of Mayor Evelio Leonardia for the filing of charges against the villages that violated the “no waste segregation, no collection” policy. Joan Nathaniel Gerangaya, officer-in-charge of City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), said the mayor should make a recommendation which barangays that should be penalized. He said the EMB-DENR is evaluating the status of erring villages relative to compliance of Republic Act (RA) 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act. Those who will be charged are village chieftain and their councilmen for violation of RA 9003. Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of Solid Waste Action Team (Swat), earlier forwarded the list of the erring villages to the EMB-DENR-Western Visayas for the imposition of the penalty on the village officials. As of February 2, 33 of Bacolod City's 61 villages have been documented as violators. These are Barangays 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24, 28, 29, 35, 38, 40, Alijis, Banago, Bata, Cabug, Estefania, Granada, Handumanan, Mandalagan, Mansilingan, Pahanocoy, Singcang-Airport, Taculing, Tangub, Villamonte, and Vista Alegre. These erring villages engaged in illegal dumping, and it was documented by the Swat and Solid Waste Educators and Enforcement Team for violation of waste segregation in relation to the implementation of Republic Act 9003. Gerangaya said the charges will be filed by the DENR regional office. He said it is the responsibility of the barangay officials to comply with RA 9003. “The local government units were given the chance to comply with RA 9003, but there are still barangays that failed to comply with the law. We have been implementing this for long years already,” he said. All of the DENR field officials in Western Visayas will attend a seminar in Iloilo City Wednesday, February 21, for the strict implementation of environmental laws. Gerangaya said that based on the instruction of Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, all the DENR officers should be active in the evaluation and monitoring of erring officials. He said erring officials will be charged for violation of RA 9003 with imprisonment and will be banned from running for public office. By MERLINDA A. PEDROSA |
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