By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) deployed 319 neophyte cops to augment its personnel capability while Western Visayas is placed under the general community quarantine (GCQ).
The 319 policemen from the Reactionary Standby Support Force (RSSF) were deployed to different areas of Panay Island on May 22, 2020.
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, said that the newly-trained police officers will augment PRO-6’s recent deployment in a bid to increase police presence on the streets and in thickly-populated areas.
“It’s one way to ensure the enforcement of quarantine guidelines while we are on GCQ,” Pamuspusan said.
The region’s cop said he wanted to end the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
“For this, we need to strictly implement policies, ordinances and existing protocols against COVID 19.”
Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) got the biggest share of the augmentation with 119 while the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo will each get 50 personnel.
Pamuspusan said the augmentation personnel have just finished their Basic Internal Security Operation Course (BISOC).
He claimed that with their training, skills and competencies, the 319 rookie cops will make a difference in delivering public safety and order in our communities.
“We have noticed that people seemed to have disregarded social distancing and wearing of masks thus we have to keep everything in place or else all our efforts will be put to waste,” he said.
