(Eagle News)–The Philippine National Police will deploy its elite Special Action Force squad to Samar and Bicol, based on Memorandum Order No. 32.
In a statement, PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde said two companies or almost 300 SAF members will be deployed to those provinces, with four to six officers including the company commander.
“Ang isang company, more or less mga nasa 127…12 yun ang size kapag sinabi natin one company. It’s more or less 127 to 132 personnel,” he said.
He said the additional personnel would come from the PNP headquarters.
As for Negros, he said “meron na tayong naka-standby force… na SAF na parang sa Mindanao.”
“Semi-permanent sila doon so we will just realign their deployment doon sa Negros,” Albayalde said.
Memorandum No. 32 directed the deployment of additional troops to Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Bicol and Samar to suppress lawless violence.
For this, the memorandum cited the Sagay massacre, the killings of local officials, and the attack on police stations in those areas, among others.
