MORE than three months into the conflict in Marawi City, the threat level in the neighboring City of Iligan remains high, a ranking police official said on Thursday, August 24.
Senior Superintendent Leony Roy Ga, the Iligan City police director, said law enforcers in his jurisdiction are still on high alert following the advisory from the Philippine National Police (PNP) high command.
He said that while armed extremist fighters are still engaging the government forces in Marawi, there are reports of persons mingling with the evacuees and that’s the police are looking into.
“We receive intelligence reports from time to time, and we have to verify their veracity. But just the same we remain on alert,” Ga said.
Ga and the Iligan City police office are both awardees of the PNP. Ga was adjudged as the Best Senior Police Commissioned Officer for Operations, while his office was awarded with the Best City Police Office.
Ga said the awards were based on his performance last year especially on their anti-drug campaign.
The awarding ceremony was graced by Deputy Director General Ramon Apolinario, the deputy chief PNP for Administration.
He said the donation of 10 Vios patrol cars and 14 pick-up trucks from the local government had boosted the morale of that city’s police force owing to their all-out anti-crime operations.
Ga said the patrol cars are being used for urban police visibility while the pick-up trucks for securing the city’s boundaries it shared with Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental.
With the influx of internally displaced persons from Marawi, he said the Iligan City police are always on the lookout for suspected terrorists.
He said everybody in Iligan, from the City Government to the zone leaders, are coordinating with the PNP to thwart any plan to sabotage the peace and order situation there.
“In light of the Marawi conflict, we are doubling our efforts. Even during the start of the Marawi crisis, we had already anticipated that the next target is Iligan,” he said.