Quezon town police chief loses post after NPA raid

Camp Vicente Lim, Laguna – After last Monday’s New People’s Army (NPA) raid in Panukulan, Quezon, the police chief of the coastal town found himself relieved from his post for dereliction of duty.

Senior Superintendent Fidel Posadas, Cavite police director, relieved Inspector Arnold Valenzuela as Panukulan police chief and replaced him with Inspector Glen Miralles.

Valenzuela was reassigned to the Quezon provincial police pending investigation.

Posadas said Valenzuela is now undergoing pre-charge investigation and could face several administrative charges for abandoning his station although a red alert was in place.

Posadas said he would also remove all police personnel of Panukulan town “because they failed to protect their area of responsibility.”

Last Monday morning, some 40 to 50 NPA rebels stormed the Panukulan town hall in the middle of the flag-raising ceremony and seized several firearms and cell phones from policemen and municipal employees.

The rebels were reportedly wearing full combat uniforms and armed with M-60 machine guns, M-16 Armalite rifles and M-203 grenade launchers.

Witnesses said the raid lasted for only 10 minutes, after which the rebels fled aboard two motorized bancas toward Baler.

Reinforcements from the 414th Police Mobile Group, the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, two helicopters from the Philippine Air Force and seaborne craft from the Philippine Navy were immediately dispatched to pursue the guerrillas.

Panukulan is a coastal town on Polilio Island, about seven hours by boat from Lucena City. It has population of about 10,000. – With Ed Amoroso