THE Police Regional Office Western Visayas urged policemen in Western Visayas to be aggressive against terrorism after the cancellation of peace negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).
Superintendent Gilbert Gorero, spokesperson of PRO-6, said the policemen in Panay and Negros islands were directed to shift their posturing from defense to offensive.
Gorero said the rebels are attacking them from behind instead of fighting them fairly.
Policemen are being positioned in police stations before to defend their territories, but now they are advised to be on alert at all times and to be more assertive.
On November 24, a policeman was killed and 10 others, who are all members of the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB)-Western Visayas, were wounded after an undetermined number of alleged NPA rebels fired at them on their way to their camp in Barangay Bolo, Maasin town in Iloilo Province.
Two days before the incident, three police officers were wounded in an ambush after an improvised explosive device allegedly planted by the communist rebels exploded in Sibalom, Antique.
The police has condemned the Antique ambush, calling the incident an act of terrorism aimed at disrupting and preventing the peace and development efforts of the province.
For their part, the Philippine Army in Negros Occidental assured that they are on top of the situation and that there is nothing to be worry about.
Government troops continue to closely monitor the usual movements of the rebel groups in the province, it added.