AFP-PNP ink pact in Negros Oriental military hands over security of 45 installations to police

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines - – The security of 45 out of the 47 vital installations in Negros Oriental, which were previously under the military, has been turned over to the police, based on a memorandum of agreement signed by the two commands on Tuesday.

The MOA signing came after the recent declaration of Negros Oriental as conflict manageable and development ready (CMDR) area, which means that the insurgency problem here has been reduced to an insignificant level and that security matters have to be given by the military to the police.

Signing the MOA at the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOrPPO) headquarters were Col. Allan Martin, the new commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade based in Tanjay City, and Senior Superintendent Mariano Natuel, Jr., OIC director of NOrPPO.

Under the MOA, the police will now secure 45 vital installations across the province, such as the Dumaguete City airport, sea ports, wharves, bus terminals, power cooperatives, water reservoirs and telecommunications facilities, while those remaining under the military’s responsibility are the two power plants, the Energy Development Corporation’s Southern Negros Geothermal Project and the Green Core Geothermal, Inc. in Valencia, Negros Oriental.

According to Martin and Natuel, the MOA signing was just to put things in writing regarding the deployment of security troops as well as other concerns in various public and private vital installations in the province.

Martin however said the agreement was to identify clearly on who shall be in charge of certain installations in Negros Oriental and it does not necessarily mean that the Philippine Army will no longer be actively involved in securing these facilities.

The AFP is still obliged to back up the PNP as necessary, he said, adding that the military troops will not be pulled out of the province even if this is already a CMDR area because such declaration does not mean the province is totally free of insurgency.

“Although the enemy has been relegated to an inconsequential level, they are still capable of conducting terroristic activities such as sabotage of vital installations, bombing of  populated areas, harassments of police and military/paramilitary forces and the like,” said authorities of the Joint Task Force-Negros Oriental. 

The MOA further stipulates that, besides securing these installations, projects and equipment, the military and the police must also enhance intelligence capability and sharing to monitor potential threats, while conducting security patrols and checkpoints, among others.

Meanwhile, military and police authorities have disclosed that five of the 47 vital installations in Negros Oriental are at high risk of bombing and sabotage.

These are the URSUMCO Sugar Mill in Manjuyod town; the URSUMCO Ethanol Plant in Bais City; the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines in  Amlan; and the EDC and Green Core geothermal plants in Valencia.

Natuel said these installations are at high risks to bombing and sabotage because they provide basic services to the people in Negros Oriental.  (FREEMAN)