• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Joint Task Force (JTF) Octopus was organized in Negros Oriental, through an executive order issued by Gov. Roel Degamo.
In his issued Executive Order No. 3, 2023, Degamo said that reorganizing JTF Leon Kilat into JTF Octopus aims to strengthen the capability of Negros Oriental provincial government in detecting, preventing and neutralizing illegal activities, and apprehending lawless elements, as well as the protection of the environment.
Its mission is to create a standard framework of coordination, conduct trainings on areas of JTF concerns that need improvement, to do research and studies on how to improve and strengthen the capability of the task force.
Degamo said the JTF will be led by Jesus Cañete, formerly connected with the Commission on Human Rights.
The JTF shall have the following tasking, such as intelligence gathering, anti-criminality, insurgency, terrorism, gambling, illegal drugs, and cybercrime, as well as crisis management and disaster response, which Degamo said are among his priorities, as governor of Negros Oriental.
Cañete said that the newly created Task Force Octopus would intensify collaboration among government agencies and organizations to fight crimes and insurgency.
He added that he has already crafted a plan to be presented to Gov. Degamo and the TF Octopus members.
“While I am proposing a unified and cohesive direction for the group, I need the input and cooperation of everybody so that we will be going in one direction,” Cañete added.
The creation of the TF Octopus is patterned after a similar body at the regional level in Central Visayas, the One Cebu Inter-Agency Interdiction Task Force.
In his Facebook account, Degamo said he also met with Col. Lennon Babilonia, head of the 3rd Infantry Division Reservist and Retirees Affairs, to enhance the capability and utilization of Army Reservists in Negros Oriental.*
