LINGAYEN–Police Director Leopoldo Bataoil, head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operation for Northern Luzon, said Pangasinan is now free from the heavy influence of insurgents.

Bataoil said insurgents in the province no longer stay permanently unlike in other provinces.

“They are just here intermittently when they run away from the military-civic operation Bayanihan being conducted in the provinces of Tarlac, Zamblaes, Pampanga and Nueva Ecija,” Bataoil said.

He said the new presence of the insurgents are immediately closely monitored and troops are promptly dispatched to the area to push them back to where they came from.

A joint Internal Security Operation Conference was recently held at the provincial police office attended by Bataoil, Army Northern Luzon Commander Lt. Gen. Isagani Cachuela, Southern Luzon’s Integrated Police Operation head Police Director Silverio Alarcio Jr, Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan, regional police director for Region 1 and provincial police officers of Pangasinan led by Senior Supt. Percival Barba.

Gov. Amado Espino, a former regional police director, attended it as well.

Bataoil said known insurgents in Pangasinan have further dwindled in number and are having a hard time recruiting people in the province.

The police will soon render the insurgents’ presence as “insignificant” by 2010.

“They will be declared as insignificant because they are now engaged in banditry, a plain and simple violation of law,” he said.#

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