INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–There is a possibility that Metro Manila policemen sent to Tacloban as augmentation force in the ongoing rehabilitation efforts in the city will go back to their home bases before Christmas, police said.
When Supertyphoon Yolanda swept across Visayas and killed more than 5,000 people, policemen in the hardest hit Leyte have also been affected, prompting the National Capital Region Police Office to deploy personnel as augmentation force to maintain law and order in the province.
But Philippine National Police Special Action Force chief Police Director Carmelo Valmoria recommended Wednesday a plan to send home NCRPO police officers in Tacloban so they can be reunited with their families for the holiday season.
Last November 11, PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima said in a report that 883 police officers were dispatched to Western and Eastern Visayas to maintain law and order.
In Tacloban City alone, he said 639 additional PNP personnel were deployed after television crews caught on camera typhoon victims ransacking groceries, warehouses, stores, fast-food restaurants and even jewelry shops
According to NCRPO head Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr., the NCRPO may order half of its forces currently in the affected areas to go back to Manila.
The first batch that will be recalled may tentatively return on December 7, while the remaining half may be back on the 14th.
Valmoria’s proposal, however, is still pending for approval from the higher ups.
Meanwhile, Garbo said the NCRPO has no plans yet of deploying another batch as some policemen are starting to recover and return to service after the destructive typhoon.
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