• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A series of manhunt operations against fugitives in Western Visayas led to the arrest of 514 wanted persons for the month of January this year.
A report of the Police Regional Office 6 revealed that 70 were classified as Most Wanted Persons (MWPs), and 444 others were categorized as Other Wanted Persons (OWPs).
Most Wanted Persons are people who are sought for serious crimes, while Other Wanted Persons are people sought for lesser crimes.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office arrested 22 MWPs and 229 OWPs, while the Bacolod City Police Office nabbed 29 MWPs and 11 OWPs, according to PRO 6 reports.
Among the PRO6 supervised police units, NOCPPO made 251 arrests, equivalent to 48.83 percent of the total arrests made by the Western Visayas police.
NOCPPO and BCPO are still under the supervision of PRO 6, pending the crafting of implementation guidelines for the creation of Negros Island Region Police Office, following the establishment of the Negros Island Region last year.
The remaining wanted persons were accounted for by the Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, Capiz and Guimaras Police Provincial Offices, the Iloilo City Police Office, and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Field Office 6.
P/Brig. Gen. Jack Wanky, regional police director of Western Visayas, commended the hard work and commitment of all police personnel involved in the operations, and their commanders for providing the right direction and guidance to ensure that the objectives are attained.
“As we continuously look for the remaining wanted persons in the region, we will tighten our ties with the different stakeholders to ensure their immediate arrests,” Wanky said in a statement issued by PRO 6 Public Information Office.*
