Negros Oriental assignment challenging, says new police chief

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — The newly installed police director of Negros Oriental province described his new assignment as “challenging,” as he leads the local police force amid a spate of killings in the province.

Col. Rizalito Gapas, a former police chief of Pasig City, assumed his new assignment last week, replacing Col. Raul Tacaca.

Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, Central Visayas police director, ordered Gapas to continue the campaign against illegal drugs and asked him to never give in to the demands of communist rebels in Negros Oriental.

Among those killed in recent attacks in the province were policemen, a lawyer and former local officials. —Dale Israel