Bato orders Pacleb: Tighten Normin security measures

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

NATIONAL Police Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa yesterday installed Chief Supt. Timoteo Pacleb as northern Mindanao’s new police chief, and ordered him to further strengthen security measures in the region.

Pacleb replaced Chief Supt. Agripino Javier who reached the retirement age of 56.

Dela Rosa said he directed Pacleb to make sure that the police in the region would not be outsmarted by terrorists, the communist New People’s Army (NPA) and other rebel groups.

Dela Rosa said the problem of terrorism in Mindanao is seen by the government as a very serious problem that could spillover from Marawi Conflict to northern  Mindanao and other regions.

“Kon dunay spillover  sa Marawi conflict,  kanang mga suspected terrorists dili kana sila modagan paingon didto sa western Mindanao. Dinhi kana sila modagan padulong sa Misamis Oriental,  Cagayan de Oro, paingon sa Bukidnon–ang mga areas nga  dominated  by Christians,” dela Rosa said.

But in an interview, dela Rosa told reporters that authorities were unaware of specific terrorist threats in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Dela Rosa said the police would just need to go very strict at the checkpoints so that terrorists would not see an opening.

He said it was because of a checkpoint in Villanueva town in Misamis Oriental that former Marawi Fahad Salic was arrested. The ex-mayor has been linked to the Maute Group, an accusation Salic strongly denied.

“Kon ma-maintain lang nato ni ang atong strikto nga pag-inspection sa mga checkpoints, OK pa ta, maayo pa ang atong katulog, walay distorbo,” dela Rosa said.

Chief Supt. Pacleb immediately called for a command conference yesterday afternoon in order to discuss his security plans for northern Mindanao.

He said he would Camp Alagar’s priority would be to further strengthen security measures especially in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.

He said he was planning on fielding more officers to guard the boundaries of Region 10.

But at the same time, he said he would start assessing the performance of all police officials in Region 10 so he would know if there is a need for a revamp or not.

Before his assignment here, Pacleb served as director for intelligence of Camp Crame. He is a member of Class 1986 of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).