NEWLY-PROMOTED Police Brigadier General Neil B. Alinsañgan on Thursday made history when he got his star-rank while commanding the Philippine National Police Intelligence Group (PNP-IG) which was adjudged as this year’s Best National Operational Support Unit of the police force.

The proud Ilonggo who marked his 52nd birthday last September 5 and took his oath of office as a Brigadier General on Wednesday before General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar also went on record as the last member of an entire Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class who joined the PNP and later become a police general. On Thursday, he was already wearing his new uniform as a Brigadier General when he received the Top NOSU Award for PNP-IG from Gen. Eleazar.

Brig. Gen. Alinsañgan graduated from Fort del Pilar in Baguio City on February 17, 1991 as a member of PMA ‘Sambisig’ Class of 1991. The native of Leganes, Iloilo finished high school at the Central Philippine University in 1985 and took mechanical engineering at the same university before joining the PMA.

A former Police Attache in China, he went on to become the Executive Officer of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence last April 15 before being designated by Gen. Eleazar as the PNP-IG director vice Brig. Gen. Warren F. de Leon, a member of PNP Academy Class 1993. De Leon, now the PNP-DI Executive Officer was also credited for ably leading the PNP-IG from November 2020 to last July.

Known for its motto ‘For La Patria,’ (for the Fatherland), officers and men of the PNP-IG have been cited for their continuing dedication and commitment to address all threats to national security and contribute to the PNP’s effort to achieve lasting peace and development for the country.

Among the highlights of the PNP-IG’s accomplishments from 2020 to date include the neutralization of four Dawlah Islamiyah members identified as Merhama Abdul Sawari, Bensaudi Sali, Rasmin Hussin and Jamal Kalimming during an anti-terror raid in Better Living Sub division in Parañaque City last June 26.

The four were tagged as ‘financial conduits’ of Daesh-East Asia involved in the coordination and planning of terrorist activities in the country and were confirmed to be connected with bomb expert Mundi Sawadjaan alias ‘Abu Marwan,’ one of the key planners of the twin bomb attacks at the Jolo Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu by an Indonesian couple-turned suicide bombers on January 17, 2019 and the suicide bombing attack on a military detachment in in Indanan, Sulu on June 28, 2019.

PNP-IG agents also captured nine ‘volunteer suicide bombers from the Dawlah Islamiyah/Abu Sayyaf Group during separate operations in Patikul and Jolo, Sulu last February 17. Seized from the suspects were powerful improvised explosive device components.

The Unit also stepped-up its effort to account for most wanted New People’s Army personalities and at the same time help convince members of the terror group to surrender and avail of the government’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program.

On September 17, 2020, PNP-IG operatives provided the ‘intelligence packet’ which led to the capture of Junifie Dagale, a high-ranking NPA leader in Central Visayas wanted for murder. The suspect who was caught in Bohol was tagged as a member of the CPP/NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Committee’s Regional Intelligence Bureau who carries a P5 million bounty on her head offered by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The Unit also neutralized 834 Most Wanted Persons, 35 of them carrying a total bounty of P5 million since last year.

It also provided the much-needed intelligence packet which helped other PNP territorial and operational units to arrest 3,004 wanted personalities including 1,530 members of Threat Groups led by the NPA; 834 Most Wanted Persons; 290 other criminal elements;330 illegal drug personalities; and 20 erring police personnel who are being targeted by the PNP’s massive internal cleansing operations.

Among those arrested were 35 MWPs who were the combined subjects of a P10 million reward from the government.

The PNP-IG also neutralized a number of crime gang leaders in the country including Mayong Kamlon, one of the top drug personalities in Western Mindanao during an operation in Cagayan de Oro City on July 31, 2020; Carling Dumandos, the leader of a notorious gun-for-hire and robbery-holdup gang operating in Zambaonga del Sur on August 3 last year;

Arnel Saguilong, a known leader of a cattle-rustling and robbery-holdup gang in Northern Mindanao during an anti-crime raid in Claveria, Misamis Oriental last November 9; Arvin Mendova, the leader of a robbery-holdup gang operating in Samar during a gunfight in Basey municipality last December 8; and Gerald Espinola, leader of a robbery-holdup and drug trafficking ring in Central Luzon during a shootout in Angeles City in Pampanga last February 5.

Last May 13, the PNP-IG also led an operation in Agusan del Sur which resulted in the arrest of Ruel Alfonso, a man wanted for two counts of murder and robbery with violence against and intimidation of person in Mlang, Cotabato.

The suspect was tagged as the leader of a crime group involved in robbery-holdup and gun-for-hire activities in Agusan del Sur and Davao de Oro.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon