25% of Western Visayas Police Assigned to Newly Reestablished Negros Island Region

Iloilo City — A significant reallocation of police forces is underway in the Western Visayas, with 25% of the Police Regional Office Western Visayas (PRO6) personnel transitioning to serve under the newly reinstated Negros Island Region (NIR).

According to Philippines News Agency, the personnel affected include those currently stationed at the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office and the Bacolod City Police Office. Wanky discussed the changes in an interview on Wednesday, noting that the move would primarily affect administrative aspects of police management by alleviating burdens from the PRO6 due to the establishment of a separate regional office for NIR. He specified that approximately 3,250 of PRO6’s 13,000 officers are included in this transition.

The NIR was first established under Executive Order 183 by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2015 but was later repealed in 2017 by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s EO 38. The region was recently reestablished on June 13 by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. through the signing of Republic Act 12000, or the Negros Island Region Act.

PRO6 spokesperson Lt. Col. Arnel Solis expressed uncertainty about the future roles of personnel currently assigned in Iloilo and the training center based in Negros Occidental, indicating that these issues are still being addressed.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police Chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil is set to oversee the activation of four new police stations in Iloilo City, tentatively scheduled for July 2. This expansion will increase the total number of stations under the Iloilo City Police Office to ten. The new stations will be located at I-CARE Tanza Esperanza for Police Station 7, Bo. Obrero for Police Station 8, Uswag Youth Center in M.H. Del Pilar in Jaro for Police Station 9, and the Iloilo Convention Center in Mandurriao for Police Station 10.