ALL units of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Eastern Visayas are on alert against any attempt to overrun police stations in the region, amid the threat of attacks by communist rebels.
PNP Regional Director Elmer Beltejar said they are able to eliminate the vulnerability of police stations to attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA).
“While the Philippine Army continues combat operation against communist rebels, our police stations have been preparing for possible attacks,” he said Thursday, July 20.
Beltejar made the statement after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) asked its armed wing, the NPA, to launch “armed counteractions and offensives” across the country.
The violent action is a protest against the proposed five-month extension of martial law in Mindanao.
All police units in the region have been stepping up their defense since last year after 20 communist rebels raided a police station in March 2016 in Balangkayan, Eastern Samar, and escaped with 17 firearms, laptops and personal belongings of policemen.
The police have also been more alert especially after the town plaza bombing in Hilongos, Leyte, on December 28, 2016 that injured 32 people and spoiled the town fiesta celebration, said Beltejar.
Proof of this was when three police officers were unhurt when NPA members ambushed a police car in Giporlos, Eastern Samar, in June. The cops managed to fire back, prompting the rebels to withdraw.
The police have been focusing in Samar provinces, because the remote villages in Samar have been tagged as hotbed of the NPA.
Poor road network, poverty and low level of education are the major factors why communism thrives in Samar provinces. (PNA)