LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 8 (PNA) — The news that Chief Supt. Victor P. Deona, Philippine National Police Bicol director, will soon be promoted and reassigned to the PNP national headquareters at Camp Crame has been welcomed by the Masbate Advocates for Peace (MAP) with mixed feelings of pride and sadness.
“We are happy and proud because he will be having his well-deserved promotion; at the same time, we are sad because we will be losing a friend and a staunch supporter in our campaign for peace in Masbate,” MAP president Igmidio Emilio Camposano said in a phone interview Saturday.
Camposano, a practicing judge in the province, said he was unhappy to learn that Deona would be promoted to a higher position in Camp. Crame, Quezon City, and leave Bicol soon.
He said when Deona was the Masbate provincial director and head of Task Force Masbate during the 2010 election, he was instrumental in maintaining order in the province.
Deona was able to convince local political candidates to surrender 200 high-powered firearms.
“We trust that his successor will continue what he has started and be faithful to his duty,” the Masbate judge said.
Task Force Masbate was created after reports that local politicians in Masbate exercised too much influence over the police and sometimes, the police were being dictated upon in the conduct of their operations.
Deona has also been at the forefront in the fight against illegal activities, especially illegal fishing, in Masbate.
He emphatically reiterated this during the Masbate Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting on Monday, where he announced his upward movement to Crmp Crame soon.
During the meeting, the PNP Bicol chief, hurled a challenge to Masbateños, especially local government executives, to help the police fight illegal fishing in Masbate seas.
“There’s a heavy pressure on the PNP but we are serious in our campaign to save our marine resources. While there is time, we need to act together to curtail illegal fishing to save our seas and biodiversity,” Deona said.
He said that in order to eliminate illegal fishing in the province, no one should take payola money from the big-time illegal fishing operators.(PNA)