Danao cops get CPPO reinforcements to neutralize threats

THE Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) has sent additional troops to Danao City to ensure the safety of local policemen following threats purportedly from the camp of slain drug suspect Medz Alvaro.

Senior Supt. Jose Macanas, CPPO director, said two teams from the Public Safety Company would augment the Danao City Police Station.

He, however, refused to divulge the exact number of operatives sent to Danao City as a matter of security protocol.

“The augmentation force will help ensure the safety of Danao City policemen while they continue to engage in anti-illegal drug activities,” said Macanas in a phone interview.

Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, deputy director for operations of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), said they needed to strengthen the police force in Danao City as they looked into the alleged threats on the lives of the local police.

“We are studying the situation in Danao City so we can take appropriate actions,” he said.

Senior Insp. Alejandro Batobalonos, the police chief of Danao City, said they continuously received threats, which they suspected to have come from the camp of Alvaro.

As of Monday, Batobalonos said they got at least five text messages that contained threats addressed to the police.

He said the messages stated that the sender would take a life from the police station because a life was taken from them.

Medz was killed in what police said was a shootout during a drug bust operation in Danao City last August 12.

His brother, suspected drug lord Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro, is detained at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) after the latter surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation in Bohol last June.