W. Visayas Cops Arrive in Cebu for COVID-19 War

A total of 53 Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 (Western Visayas) personnel have arrived in Cebu City to help in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Lt. Col. Gilbert Gorero, PRO 6’s concurrent spokesperson, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the “selected strong augmentation” boarded a ship on Friday and arrived Saturday morning.

The deployment was made upon the recommendation of Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, Philippine National Police deputy chief for operations and concurrent Joint Task Force Covid-19 commander.

The augmentation force from Western Visayas is composed of 50 non-commissioned officers and three commissioned officers.

The contingent, mostly graduates of Basic Internal Security Operation Course (BISOC), is led by Maj. Antonio Benitez.

During the send-off ceremony on Thursday, Brig. Gen. Rene Pamuspusan, PRO 6 regional director, told the augmentation force to be extra careful because “Covid-19 is a high-risk at PRO 7.”

“Show your utmost dedication and discipline to set as an example among others. Thus, share our best practices on how PRO 6 handles the Covid-19 pandemic. Always remember you are carrying the name of PRO 6,” he said.

Meanwhile, Gorero said their policemen’s stay in Central Visayas is indefinite.

The PRO 6 will also be the one to identify the specific task of Western Visayas’ cops.

“Western Visayas is always ready to render support whenever needed. We will create reserve forces for the augmentation personnel in case a problem arises,” Gorero said. (PNA)