The Philippine National Police (PNP) is eyeing the municipality of Murcia in Negros Occidental as the strategic hub of the new Police Regional Office – Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR), placing the command center near Bacolod City while positioning mobile forces in other parts of the island.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. told senators on Thursday, Sept. 10, that several sites had been offered for the new regional headquarters, including areas in northern Negros, Kabankalan, near Bacolod, and Murcia.
“Upon deliberation, we found it more appropriate to build the regional office at nearby Murcia,” Nartatez said during the Senate Finance Subcommittee J hearing on the proposed 2027 budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Asked about the size of the proposed headquarters site, Nartatez said, “Seven hectares for the regional headquarters at Murcia.”
Murcia is an inland municipality in Negros Occidental located just east of Bacolod, giving the proposed headquarters proximity to the province’s main urban center while keeping it within reach of interior areas.
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito raised the matter after noting that the PNP has started establishing and operationalizing a regional police office for Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, and Bacolod City following the creation of the Negros Island Region.
Nartatez said the PRO-NIR will draw personnel from the regional police offices of Western and Central Visayas, which previously covered the provinces and Bacolod City.
To widen police presence across the island, he said, mobile force units are also being planned in Mabinay in Negros Oriental and Sagay City in northern Negros Occidental.
“It would be located in the middle, which is the town of Mabinay, and/or another camp in the northern part, which is Sagay City,” Nartatez said.
Ejercito said the setup would help balance deployment, with the regional office on the Occidental side and mobile forces closer to Oriental.
Senator Panfilo Lacson asked whether the PNP could implement the project next year if Congress grants the proposed capital outlay of PHP505 million for the Negros regional headquarters.
“It will be ready for implementation,” Nartatez replied.
DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the government is also monitoring the remaining insurgency presence in the country, including in Negros.
“For the general numbers, sir, the peak of the insurgency was 1990 when we had registered 25,000 armed combatants. But today, sir, we are down to, I think, the last 800 armed combatants in the entire country,” Remulla said.
He said the remaining armed combatants are concentrated in a few areas, including Mindoro, Negros, and parts of Mindanao.
“We hope that by the end of the term of our President, that 825 will now be reduced to zero – through peaceful means, of course,” Remulla said.*PNA
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