This police station hosts VIPs

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

MANAOAG – Being assigned as chief of police (COP) in this police station entails a big responsibility.

This pilgrimage town’s station is host to luminaries like the president of the Republic, senators, congressmen, cabinet members, to name a few.

VIPS. Manaoag Chief of Police Senior Inspector Eric Gonzales (extreme left)
posterity poses with Congressman Pol Bataoil and Police Regional Director
Chief Supt. Ericson T. Velasques in front of the visitor's lounge of the station. MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

                        

The personages come here because of the world’s famous Minore Basilica of Our Lady of Manaoag where they attend mass.

According to the newly installed COP Senior Inspector Roderick Ylan Gonzales, while just barely warming his seat he had already been a host to Senator JV Ejercito Estrada, Congressman Leopoldo Bataoil (2nd District, Pangasinan), Governor Amado Espino, Jr., Vice Governor Ferdinand Calimlim, businessman Edward Aguilar, Regional Director Police Chief Supt. Ericson T. Velasques, Chief Supt. General Diosdado Valeroso, to name a few, at the world class multi-million pesos two-storey visitor’s lounge of the police the national government funded to boost up the Philippine National Police’s station here.

Since September when he took the reign of the police here from Chief Inspector Edison Revita, Gonzales expedited the procurements of needed equipments like the two P15 thousand worth Epson F-20 printers and P16 thousand high resolution cameras.

He said he bought them through solicitations with friends when he was just two weeks in office.

“We will be using them on the police civil relation, tactical operation centre. We have been printing a lot of documents here, and we need these equipments badly. Sira –sira na kasi ang printers namin dito”.

The other solicited gadgets he chalked up from businessmen's friends are the 15 brand new hand held two-way radios his police would be using in their patrol and operation.

Gonzales said he relied on asking donations because he could not use the P49 thousand a month Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) because it is only appropriated, as ordered by higher headquarter, on gasoline, office supplies, and others of his station.

PSINP Gonzales hosts businessman- investor Edward Aguilar (black dress)
and party when Aguilar dropped by recently at the station.

“I got two patrol cars like the Mahindra and Innova, four Motorized Anti-Street Crime Operatives (MASCO), and four mountain bikes,” when asked how many vehicles he had here.

The police station of the almost 70 thousand populated town, according to the COP, have 50 personnel including him and two other officials.

Gonzales first orders of the day when he replaced Revita was for his men to aggressively fight criminalities without let up by conducting mobile patrolling and coordination and monitoring in different barangays within his area of responsibility (AOR) to deter any criminal acts, initiated continuous road clearing and monitoring operations within his AOR, implemented information operation regarding the effects of drugs, peace and order situation here and the new traffic scheme being implemented at Brgy Poblacion, conducted school visitation and information drive on Anti-Bullying and distributed flyers containing safety prevention tips to pupils of elementary schools, dialogued with Tricycle Operators and Drivers' Association (TODA) representatives regarding the parking rules, loading and unloading of passengers and at the same time gaining their cooperation when it comes to new traffic scheme, to name a few.

Early October he and his men apprehended Joseph Vinluan, a bogus military officer, who was caught red handed with three unlicensed Cal.9mm pistols and a Cal. 45 handgun he kept at his Innova vehicle.

“He introduced himself to my men as a major but shows an expired army captain’s ID. He wore a bull ring and gave conflicting statements. That was where we became suspicious,” Gonzales told this paper.

He said he sued Vinluan with Republic Act 10591 or the comprehensive law on firearms and ammunition and usurpation of authority as provided in the Revised Penal Code.

Gonzales said Vinluan, who was from Urbiztondo, asked his men where this town’s Vice Mayor Lito Arenas lives.

The COP used to be a cadet at the elite Philippine National Police Academy but did not finish the Corp. Because of his passionate desire to join the police force he enlisted as a non-officer and cut his teeth as member of the tough Special Action Force and was assigned in Mindanao.

He was catapulted, he said, through sheer determination hard works at the PNP’s officer lateral entry program.

Gonzales was a security aide of the United States Military Attaché’ where he was assigned at the U.S Embassy and liaisons of former  Chief of the PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao, former general and incumbent congressman Leopoldo Bataoil, and other countless PNP generals.

 He is a resident of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.