800 cops sent to take Tineg from NPA

TINEG, Abra -- Around 80 policemen were deployed to this remote town last week to “liberate” the municipality from the New People’s Army. The deployment was the first step taken by Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. to bring government services to residents of Tineg, which has been neglected for several decades.

“The town has no municipal building and police station, no electricity, no farm-to-market roads and no health services. There are school buildings but no teachers, especially in the far-flung barangays because of fear of the NPAs,” said Cordillera police director Chief Supt. Eugene Martin.

Martin told newsmen Tineg officials and municipal employees hold office in the capital town of Bangued, thus denying at least 4,000 residents needed government services. The municipal police force is also holding office in the “municipal hall” in Bangued, which also doubles as the official residence of the Tineg mayor, leaving the town to the complete control of the NPA.

Martin, Deputy Director General Jess Versoza, PNP deputy for administration; Abra Gov. Eustaquio Bersamin and Tineg Mayor Edwin Crisologo recently held a meeting to map out strategies not only to dislodge the NPA but also to bring in development to the long-neglected town.

The first step, according to Versoza, was the deployment of 80 policemen, who would deny the NPA control of the municipality by conducting foot patrols together with Army soldiers in remote communities.

“Police would account for all wanted criminals, conduct a campaign on police-community relations and bring normalcy in the town until the local government unit is functioning as such,” Martin said.

“While police are busy driving away the NPAs and criminals, Bersamin would bring in government equipment to construct farm-to-market roads and deliver basic services to the people.” “With the all-out support of Gov. Bersamin to our endeavor, we will be successful in our effort to bring the government closer to the people,” said Martin.

With the presence of the policemen, Martin is hoping Crisologo would live up to his promise to construct a municipal building and a police station. The newly deployed policemen, headed by Supt. Ernesto Gaab, have put up tents and huts in the middle of ricefields in Sitio Bantay, Barangay Caganayan.

They will be under the operational supervision of Senior Supt. Noel Manabat, deputy regional police director for operations. The policemen belong to the 1st Company of the Regional Mobile Group-Cordillera, the PNP-SAF’s 22nd Company, and the 1601st Police Provincial Mobile Group of the Abra police.

Efforts to bring the government to Tineg started in 2005, when Versoza, then the Cordillera police director, made an in-depth study of Abra and exposed Tineg’s dismal condition as the most under-developed municipality despite having the highest IRA – P4 million a month – in the province.

Martin said he wanted to correct the anomaly through dialogues with various political factions and provincial leaders until a common commitment of support was forged. Martin also secured a gentleman’s agreement among warring tribal factions in Tineg to forego political violence and instead join hands in bringing stability and governance to the town.

The newly established police station in Tineg would also serve as a symbol of defiance to the NPA, which has gained a foothold in the town in the past five years. “It is anticipated that they (NPAs) would exert all efforts to destroy the police station for the authority that it signifies,” Martin said.