Half of PS-10 men to return to previous tasks

ABOUT 30 of the 50 Police Station 10 (PS-10) personnel, who were relieved and sent to re-training, are expected to be reassigned back to their previous headquarters.

Zamboanga City police officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo announced on Wednesday that among those who will be reassigned back to their previous assignment is Police Station 10 commander Chief Inspector Roberto Marcos.

The rest of them will be reassigned to other police units of the Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO), which has jurisdiction over 10 police stations and a public safety company, De Ocampo said.

Marcos and his men were relieved and replaced from Police Station 10 following the November 13 kidnapping of Flordeliza Ongchua, 48, a teacher of Labuan Elementary School.

Ongchua was seized by eight gunmen from her residence, which is some 600 meters away from the Police Station 10 headquarters in the village of Labuan, 36 kilometers west of Zamboanga City.

She was freed in the morning of December 24 in downtown Jolo following alleged payment of ransom.

Investigation conducted by the City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) showed that it took the Police Station 10 personnel to respond despite the distance of the victim's residence to their headquarters.

At present, Marcos and his men are deployed in the downtown area since De Ocampo utilized them as augmentation force during the Yuletide Seasons after they have completed re-training. (Bong Garcia)