CEBU City’s new police officer-in-charge, Col. George Ylanan, has the full support of Mayor Nestor Archival, who pledged new mobility resources — including motorcycles and potentially electric vehicles — to support the police official’s anti-crime strategy.
Why it matters: Ylanan, a Cebu native, took office on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, said his goal is to shift the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to a “full proactive mode.” He aims to prevent crime before it happens so “we will have nothing to solve,” stating the goal is to make every Cebuano “feel safe” beyond just statistics.
Go deeper: Ylanan’s strategy includes:
Aggressive operations like Oplan Bakal-Sita (police’s campaign against illegal firearms), Oplan Bulabog (profiling high-risk communities and conducting targeted patrols, sweeps and arrests to disrupt crime and locate wanted persons) and intensified anti-drug initiatives.
Maximum patrol visibility to deter crime.
Holiday preparation, including the potential return of bicycle patrols in tourist areas for the Christmas season and Sinulog Festival in January 2026.
The backstory: Ylanan returns to a top Cebu City post amid a controversial past.
Ylanan was part of the Police Regional Office 7 team behind the 2016 operation that killed suspected drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz. He was then the head of the Regional Special Operations Group 7 which, along with the Regional 7 Intelligence Division led by Col. Rex Derilo, tracked Diaz down in Metro Manila.
That same year, he was named a “drug protector” by self-confessed drug personality Franz Sabalones and was relieved from PRO 7.
In 2011, when Ylanan was still a major (chief inspector) and head of CCPO’s Investigation and Detective Management Branch, he fired a warning shot after a taxi blocked his car in Barangay Tisa, believing it was an ambush.
The taxi driver, however, disputed his account, saying it was Ylanan who blocked his way. / BRYCE KEN ABELLON, USJ-R INTERN