By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) is set to activate four additional police stations by July 2.
Colonel Joeresty Coronica, ICPO chief, said four police officers have been identified to lead the new units.
Captain Joebert Amado will lead Iloilo City Police Station 7 (ICPS 7), Captain Lester Oliveros will head ICPS 8, Captain Jeffrey Delgado will be in charge of ICPS 9, and Captain Nonito Venteroso will command ICPS 10.
Amado and Oliveros have previously served as chiefs of police in other ICPO stations.
ICPS 7 will cover parts of the City Proper district and will be located at the I-Care Center in Barangay Tanza-Esperanza.
ICPS 8 will temporarily be housed at Gaisano ICC and will move to the I-Care Center at the Iloilo Business Park once construction is completed.
ICPS 9 will cover the Lapuz district and will be located at the Bo. Obrero barangay hall while ICPS 10 will be headquartered at the Uswag Youth Center in Barangay M. H. del Pilar, Jaro.
Currently, ICPO has six police stations: ICPS 1 co-located at the ICPO headquarters on Gen. Luna St., City Proper district; ICPS 2 in La Paz district; ICPS 3 in Jaro; ICPS 4 in Molo; ICPS 5 in Mandurriao; and ICPS 6 in Arevalo district. None of these stations occupy a standard Type B building.
Citing service efficiency and the growing population, ICPO decided to add four more stations.
Coronica said the current personnel complement is sufficient for 10 police stations.
Last month, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 deployed 131 additional policemen to ICPO, and recently sent 18 more officers.
Each city police station should be staffed by around 80 personnel.
The activation of the new stations will require additional funding for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE).
However, Coronica emphasized the need for more police stations given Iloilo City’s population of nearly 500,000, which doubles during the day.
