GOVERNORS and mayors of different provinces, cities and municipalities in Central Visayas are protesting a reported plan by DILG Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ Abalos Jr. to replace new Police Regional Office 7 director, Brigadier General Roderick Alba although he is doing very well in the region over the past two months, my sources have told me.

I was informed that many local politicians who delivered the goods for the Marcos-Duterte tandem in Central Visayas during the May 9 elections have joined hands in asking President Bongbong Marcos and PNP chief, General Jun Azurin to retain the former PNP spokesperson from PNP Academy Class 1992 as PRO7 director. All are also looking for a positive response from Sec. Abalos regarding their appeal, I learned.

“Why fix the house when it ain’t broke,” one official told me amid highly-reliable information that Sec. Abalos since last week has been after the head of Brig. Gen. Alba reportedly due to the presence of underground ‘e-Sabong’ operations in the region which is said to be being operated by a local politician not allied with the present administration.

Vote-rich Cebu province delivered over 2 million votes in total for the Marcos-Duterte tandem giving PBBM and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio a landslide victory in last May’s polls. It is the reason why politicians especially those planning to run for national positions in the 2025 mid-term election are courting the support of Cebu politicians. No national politician in his right mind would want to get the ire of Cebu for sure.

The highly-influential and well-loved Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia is fully behind Alba, I was informed. It was Gov. Garcia and Brig. Gen. Alba who led the signing of the One Cebu Inter-Agency Interdiction Task Force last December 7 to strengthen intern-agency collaboration and continuously and effectively arrest the entry and proliferation of illegal drugs in Central Visayas.

A week after its launching, the PRO7 has already confiscated at least P13 million worth of shabu in Cebu province amid their aligned goals with Gov. Garcia to wage an all-out war on drugs and strengthen border security in the region. With Gov. Garcia as Region 7’s Drug Czar, expect more huge anti-drug accomplishments in Region 7.

Siquijor Gov. Jake Vincent Villa wrote a personal letter to Gen. Azurin after hearing the news of Brig. Gen. Alba’s impending relief as PRO7 director. “The news came as a shock to me as he has been doing very well in the past few weeks that he has been with us,” the governor said.

“Aside from his accomplishments in the campaign against criminality which I am sure you are already aware of, he is an important mover in our campaign against illegal drugs,” Villa added.

The governor was among the Region 7 politicians who are moving all-out to have Alba retained, I learned. “I, too am expecting so much from him but it will be a terrible loss to all of us if he will not be allowed to realize the plans and programs that have already been set in motion. If fault warranted his relief, that fault is not evident to the people of Siquijor,” Gov. Villa said.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama also made a similarly-worded letter to the PNP chief. “Although I don’t know him personally, I find that his leadership style is quite effective and compelling as he is able to rally the support of all sectors in the community with him, together with his entire PNP commanders and personnel to make our City, if not the entire Central Visayas peaceful and orderly,” the mayor said.

“We are at the height of our Sinulug preparations, coming from a very bleak and unamusing COVID-19 pandemic, which line-up of programs and activities are happing 1st week of January 2023. After more than two years ,we are able to finally get back to our normal lives and regain our vibrant economy. With these, I would like to obtain an assurance that our current yields and preparations will not be hampered by any sudden changes in the command of our police force, especially its Regional Director,” said Mayor Rama who is also the president of the League of Cities in the Philippines.

Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard ‘Ahong’ Chang and Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes also wrote similar letters to the PNP chief expressing their full support to the beleaguered Alba and appealing to Sec. Abalos to retain the latter.

Gov. Aumentado cited the new programs launched by Brig. Gen. Alba to protect the entire province thru the PRO7’s Oplan Seal Bohol which aims to totally guard the province which is now being promoted by the PBBM government as the country’s top tourist destination.

Aumentado said that under the leadership, guidance and directions of Brig. Gen. Alba, their local police has been very effective and efficient in reducing and solving crimes under Gen Azurin’s KASIMBAYANAN or Kapulisan, Simbahan at Pamayanan program.

The Bohol governor cited the significant gains achieved by the PRO7 in the campaign against illegal drugs, most wanted persons, illegal firearms and illegal gambling.

I learned that Sec. Abalos threatened to relieve Alba from his post two weeks ago if he will fail to stop the presence of underground ‘e-Sabong’ in the region. However, for everybody’s information, ‘e-Sabong sites’ are present all over the country with the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group continuously monitoring the existence of the banned games in social media sites. Since May 3 to date, the PNP-ACG has already deleted 82 such accounts from Facebook.

From December 5 to 10 alone, I learned that the PRO7 had already conducted 109 operations against ‘e-Sabong’ in the Central Visayas region leading in the arrest of 283 persons and the confiscation of P155,779 in cash bets as well as eight computer sets and 52 cellphones being used to play the game. Brig. Gen. Alba also said he will ordered the immediate relief of any of his ground commanders who will be found to have reneged on their campaign against ‘e-Sabong.’

The reported DILG chief’s plan to relieve Brig. Gen. Alba comes in the heels of a Camp Crame statement that the PRO7 has topped the Unit Performance Evaluation for November made by the Philippine National Police Directorate for Personnel and Records Management.

The no. 1 ranking of the Central Visayas police force among all 17 Police Regional Offices earned it commendation from Gen. Azurin who cited the consistency displayed by the PRO7 both operationally and administratively leading to a 5.24 percent overall crime reduction in the region.

The PRO7 also recorded the highest reduction in crime across the country as evaluated from January to December 9 this year by the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management headed by Major Gen. Ely Cruz. The PRO7 reported 3,633 focus crimes during the period compared to the 4,006 it registered during the same period in 2021 or a significant crime reduction of 10.65 percent.

The PRO7’s high Crime Clearance Efficiency and Crime Solution Efficiency are also reflective of how efficient and competent the ‘Bisdak Cops’ of Central Visayas when it comes to keeping the peace and order situation in the region manageable.

The PRO7 recorded 37,444 Total Crime Incidents in the region this year which is 2,070 cases lower than the 39,514 crime incidents it posted last year.

Meanwhile, the Peace and Order Indicator, categorized as Index Crimes and Non-index crimes, has also were down by 9.84 percent where Index Crimes, known as crimes of serious nature, decreased by 385 cases. The PRO7 also noted 1,926 less non-index crimes during the period.

The PRO7’s intensified campaign against illegal drugs left a remarkable result as Team PNP Region 7 registered the biggest amount of illegal drugs confiscated from January 1, 2022, to November 30, 2022 among the 17 police regional offices.

The 5,556 anti-illegal drug operations conducted by PRO7 agents so far this year led in the arrest of 6,767 drug personalities and the confiscation of more than P866 million worth of shabu, dried marijuana leaves and cocaine. The seized drugs include nearly 126 kilograms of high-grade shabu and some 81.5 kilos of marijuana leaves.