PROTECTION VS. REBELS. Col. Roland Vilela, Iloilo Police Provincial Office director, on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 8, 2019) during the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, advises contractors to inform them of their operations for security against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA). Vilela said the police can patrol the contractors' depot to prevent rebel attacks. (PNA photo by Gail Momblan)
ILOILO CITY -- The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) has advised contractors handling road projects in the hinterlands to inform them of their operations for security and protection.
This, after Iloilo (3rd District) Board Member Matt Palabrica has informed Col. Roland Vilela, IPPO director, that one of the contractors approached his office and asked for help against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
Vilela attended the regular session of the Iloilo Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) on Tuesday afternoon.
“I was called by one contractor asking for assistance if they can stop giving monetary revolutionary tax so that they can go on with our construction in the municipality,” Palabrica said.
The board member noted there had been incidents in the province allegedly perpetrated by the rebels.
On Sept. 11, suspected members of the CPP-NPA torched two transit mixers and one backhoe at the concrete batching plant of Wilkinson Construction at Igcocolo village, Guimbal town.
Wilkinson Construction undertakes the government’s road development projects in the first district of the province.
“Do these contractors report to the police stations that they will be having a project in the municipality? On the part of the mayors or local chief executives, they don’t know who are the contractors operating in the area but when problems arise that’s the time that they will go to local leaders and ask for help,” Palabrica said.
He added: “most of the time”, local leaders do not have the idea of whether or not private companies give in to the extortion demands of the terrorist group.
Vilela advised contractors to inform the local chiefs of police of their road projects, especially in the mountains of Iloilo.
“We advise them to ask permission from their local chiefs of police so that their depot will be covered in the patrolling of the police,” he said.
When he was assigned to Police Regional Office 2 (Cagayan Valley), Vilela said that as the directive of their commander, the police support and cover the construction companies operating in the hinterlands. “We have personnel from our mobile group to help with this development,” he said.
The board members also asked updates from the IPPO top cop on the issue of Iloilo mayors who allegedly acceded to the rebels’ permit to campaign scheme during the May 2019 elections.
Vilela refused to drop names during the session but assured the board members to provide blanket security to local officials.
He said the names of those who aided the rebels are being validated and considered that some local executives had given in to the rebels’ demands out of fear. (PNA)
