KIDAPAWAN CITY -- More policemen will be deployed in North Cotabato to augment its present police force at the municipal level and improve peace and order situation, a top police official said Wednesday.
Senior Supt. Jonathan Tangonan, acting North Cotabato police provincial director, told reporters that Chief Supt. Cedrick Train, police regional director for Central Mindanao, has already committed to the request of his office and that of local government executives.
Without giving the exact number of police personnel in North Cotabato’s 17 municipalities and one city for security reason, Tangonan said the augmentation will help ensure safety of local residents.
“We really lack police personnel and this request was backed by the provincial government and other political leaders,” he told reporters.
Tangonan said the additional police forces will be deployed in the municipalities to improve security situation.
North Cotabato has several threat groups that occasionally create trouble that send civilians fleeing.
The outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) operate at the borders of North Cotabato and Maguindanao and for several occasion had harassed communities, including the recent attack by BIFF in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato.
Beside the BIFF, a huge number of communist rebels also operate in North Cotabato’s second district. Guerilla Front 53 operates in the mountains of Arakan, President Rojas, Kidapawan City, Magpet, Makilala, Tulunan and Mlang.
The province is also home to two Moro fronts (Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front) that already signed separate peace deals with the national government.
Clan wars involving Moro families in North Cotabato also hinder the attainment of peace in the province.
Beside the local police, North Cotabato is also home to the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade based in Carmen, North Cotabato. Three Army battalions, 39th Infantry Battalion, 34th Infantry Battalion and 7th Infantry Battalion are based in North Cotabato.
Tangonan said the police is prepared to thwart any destabilization attempt in the province even as he appealed to the public to continue supporting local police in combatting crimes, illegal drugs and lawlessness.(PNA)
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