THE Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas is ready to maintain peace and order during the six months rehabilitation of Boracay Island.
PRO-Western Visayas spokesperson Joem Malong said about 610 "strong personnel" will be deployed to the island.
“Our main goal here in Police Regional Office 6 is to have a peaceful an orderly rehabilitation,” Malong said.
Last April 8, PRO-Western Visayas Director Cesar Hawthorne Binag designated Police Senior Superintendent Jesus Cambay Jr. as Metro Boracay Task Force (MBTF) commander to ensure the smooth, peaceful and orderly rehabilitation of Boracay on April 26.
Cambay will lead the personnel, which is composed of 126 from Aklan Police Provincial Office, 300 from MBTF, 4 from Regional Civil Security Unit 6, 13 from Aklan Provincial Highway Patrol Unit, 1 from Aklan Provincial Criminal Investigation and Detective Team, and 166 augmentation personnel for the provisionary company.
Malong said they will implement an ID system, which means that those who fail to provide the required identification will be rejected from entering Boracay.
The ID system aims to recognize if a certain individual is a resident or employee of the island, said Malong.
"We will be implementing one entry, one exit in Boracay that is the jetty port only. So other areas will be closed for the meantime to ensure security," Malong said.
There has been no reported resistance from the people in Boracay since the full closure has not been implemented yet. But police are anticipating the presence of cause-oriented groups who might cause violence.
Malong described the deployment of the personnel as "indefinite," but the government said the rehabilitation will be done in three months. (SunStar Philippines)