Despite achieving the most number of drug personalities who surrendered in Central Visayas, new assignments for seventeen police chiefs in Bohol has been issued by the Provincial Regional Office (PRO) 7.
The Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) did not officially confirm the new assignments but the Chronicle learned that a Special Order was issued on July 19, 2016 that included the provinces of Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor.
The Chronicle learned that new assignments were released to police chiefs of Alburquerque, Antequera, Dauis, Sagbayan, Catigbi-an, Corella, Candijay, Talibon, Sevilla, Bien Unido, Buenavista, Trinidad, Getafe, Bilar, Jagna, President Carlos P. Garcia and Tagbilaran City.
Five police officers are now reportedly assigned in the Police Regional Office including the chief of the Tagbilaran Police Station, Police Superintendent George Vale.
Former Bohol police provincial director, Senior Superintendent Dennis Agustin was appointed Chief of the Directorial Staff of the PROÂ 7.
Superintendent Nicomedes Olaivar, Jr., former chief of the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC), is now the new chief of police of the Tagbilaran Police Station while Inspector Ricardo Bertulfo Tero is now with the Regional Investigation Division – 7 after serving as member of the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) of the BPPO.
Former Buenavista Police Chief, Police Inspector Bienvenido Mandal, Jr. is now the chief of Station 4 of the Cebu Police Office (CPPO), former Tubigon Police Inspector Nudalo Lucernar is the Chief of Station 7 of the CPPO and former Talibon Police Chief, Police Inspector Edward Sanchez heads Station 8 of the CPPO.
With the new police chiefs, newly appointed acting director of the provincial police, Senior Superintendent Felipe Natividad called on the members of the BPPO to turn Bohol into a “drug free province”.
In efforts to stamp out drug activities in Bohol, Natividad challenged the chiefs of police of the 47 towns and one city of Bohol to rid their areas of illegal drugs.
Failure to minimize or totally eradicate the crime menace, according to Natividad, will place the police under suspicion that they are “drug coddlers”.
In Central Visayas, “Oplan Tokhang”, 28,232 pushers and users voluntarily turned themselves in to police authorities in the first 12Â days of the operation with half coming from Bohol with 14,210 users and pushers.
Eighteen police stations in Bohol were among the 126 police stations in Central Visayas were considered “non-performing police stations”, according to Police Senior Superintendent Rey Lyndon Lawas, Deputy Director for Operations of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas
Director of PRO 7 Chief Superintendent Noli Talino, upon assumption of office, learned that many of the top drug personalities in the municipalities remained free since the station chiefs “had not done anything to arrest them”.
These police stations failed to arrest the top ten drug personalities in their respective areas.
Nine municipalities, namely Panglao, Dauis, Inabanga, Getafe, Clarin, Ubay, Carmen, Tubigon, Talibon and Tagbilaran City, were declared by the BPPO as “deeply infiltrated”. (Chito M. Visarra, Rey Tutas and Allen Doydora)