CAMP EFIGENIO NAVARRO, Calapan City – After learning about the misencounter in Samar, Regional Director Police Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Luis D. Licup, ordered all his men in the region to closely coordinate with the Armed Forces of the Philippines for any police operations.
The incident involving the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel led to the death of six ( 6) and wounding of nine ( 9), all from the PNP side occured in Barangay San Roque, Santa Rita, Samar, June 25.
Licup immediately ordered for the suspension of Internal Security Operations of all Mobile Forces and Public Safety Forces without prior coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in order to prevent the occurrence of the same incident in the region.
Licup reminded the newly-designated Force Commander of the Regional Mobile Force Batallion, Police Superintendent Mardito Anguluan, to focus on his capability build–up on Internal Security Operation matters particularly in terms of the training of his personnel along with the personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines as the region prepares to take over the ISO from the AFP.
In a telephone interview with Palawan Daily News, Licup said that proper information to both sides with twice or thrice deliberations, conferences and meetings must be done first in order to trace out those line in order to avoid the deadly “misencounter”.
Licup stressed he is still very confident that his men will immediately follow his order to suspend any operations if there were no proper coordination.
“We are in the side of caution, [rather] than to commit the same incident in Samar,” Licup stressed.
In Mimaropa, there is a regular Joint Police and Security Coordinating Committee, whether there is a big event like elections. Every time PNP and AFP plan to conduct operation, they meet and make sure that there mission planning is clear enough to everyone.
According to Licup, “coordination is the key in order for the incident not to happen again.”
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