ORDER. Col. Joeresty P. Coronica, newly-designated officer-in-charge of the Iloilo City Police Office, talks to the men and women of the station during their flag raising ceremony on Monday (Jan. 30, 2023). Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, in a press conference said he wanted the new OIC to ensure the continuous anti-drug campaign and implement police visibility. (Photo courtesy of ICPO Pulis Serbisyo Publiko FB page)
ILOILO CITY – Mayor Jerry P. Treñas has given the new officer-in-charge of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) one week to settle in his new assignment that would focus on police visibility and intensifying the anti-drug campaign, especially in Barangay Bakhaw in Mandurriao district here.
Treñas, in a press conference on Monday, said he will be calling for a command conference with new ICPO Director, Col. Joeresty P. Coronica, and other police officials after one week.
Coronica replaced former ICPO director Col. Leo Batiles who was relieved from his post following the drug operation that led to the arrest of 32 suspects, including three high value individuals, and confiscation of close to PHP1 million worth of shabu in a drug den in Barangay Bakhaw on Jan. 25.
Treñas said that Batiles was doing okay until the bar incidents and the drug bust in Bakhaw.
“I was so surprised that he lives in Bakhaw, where there is the greatest drug haul,” he added.
He also announced that a lot of plain clothes police personnel are being deployed in different barangays in the city to do the drug monitoring.
The mayor pointed out that he has been supportive of the Philippine National Police but he also wanted to see results.
He lamented that the city government has been providing the police with patrol cars, including gasoline, but he could not see them on the streets. Seven more patrol vehicles are expected this year.
Aside from patrol cars, the city police are also provided with over 70 motorcycles, firearms and ammunitions, and firing range, among others.
“I will have them accounted,” the mayor said, referring to the motorcycles.
Aside from Batiles, he also requested for the relief of all police personnel of the Mandurriao Police Station, which is one of the police stations under the ICPO. (PNA)
