Regional Police Director Lani-O Nerez warned Tuesday municipal police chiefs in Bohol to intensify their respective crime prevention plans to brace against the expected increase in theft, robbery, and snatching incidences during the Christmas season. The regional top police official was in Bohol Tuesday to preside over the turnover of command to its new provincial director. In his message, Supt. Nerez cautioned police chiefs to brace for the coming holidays because crimes against property will likely rise. The local command is under the administration of Senior Supt. Anthony Lao Obenza who replaced Senior Supt. Edgardo Ingking who was promoted as chief of staff of the regional command. Director Nerez is Ingking's immediate boss.

In his response following his new assignment, Supt. Obenza who is from Talibon admitted that he faced the challenge to surpass the accomplishments of the past leadership. He formally assumed as provincial police director on Wednesday, a day after the turnover rites. During the same occasion, Director Nerez dared Obenza to uphold the police ideals to serve as he assumes the responsibility in the double-season of crime incidence- -the Christmas holidays and the election period. The regional director advised the local police force to maximize the provincial mobile group in monitoring their areas and in pursuing criminals as he warned them of a possible spill over of criminals from Cebu and other provinces.

He also called on the local police force to stay neutral in dealing with politics-related matters. He reminded that an official is only allowed two PNP personnel as escorts in their sorties, based on the national directive issued following the Maguindanao massacre. After the ceremony at Camp Dagohoy , Obenza immediately called a command conference with all the 48 municipal chiefs of police to reiterate the message in his acceptance speech, calling for continued support to the provincial command in an effort to sustain the accomplishments of the past leadership. Prior to his assignment here, Obenza- -who hails from the municipality of Talibon- -was head of the personnel division of the Central Visayas Police Regional Office.

Obenza is a Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) graduate, belonging to Batch '85 and holds a master's degree in public administration. Governor Erico Aumentado chose Obenza  from a list of three names, based on the normal procedure. With the cooperation of the municipal chiefs of police, Obenza assured to sustain the all-out war against all forms of criminality, with emphasis on gambling, that Ingking had started.       Vice-Governor Julius Caesar Herrera, who represented the governor, challenged Obenza to sustain the integrity of the police to also maintain the trust and confidence of the people, considering that the cooperation and support of the community had been significant in the crime prevention in the province. In the ceremony, Nerez awarded the medal of achievement to Ingking after serving as provincial director for two years and 11 months. In his farewell speech, Ingking expressed gratitude to the governor, the vice-governor, lawyer Tomas Abapo Jr., during his stint as provincial administrator, for the support to the programs of Bohol Police Provincial Office.

Among them are the establishment of tourist police and the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, acquisition of more patrol cars, construction of standard police station buildings and the deployment of more personnel to the province. Ingking's leadership had also ushered in several awards for the province- -in the regional and national categories. The most recent commendation that the provincial command received was for topping in the implementation of the National Firearms Control (NFC) Program, after netting 1,096 firearms from August to September. This constitutes 23 percent of the estimated 4,232 loose firearms. Ingking also expressed gratitude to the new provincial administrator, lawyer Handel Lagunay, for facilitating the assistance of Legal Assistance for Effective Law Enforcement Program (LAELEP) in his stint as provincial legal officer then, at the height of the administrative complaints filed against him by Panglao former mayor Doloreich Dumaluan.

Dumaluan filed an administrative case before the National Police Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas sometime in October this year for obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty after Ingking refused to grant him a visit to an adversary in a shooting incident then detained at the BPPO lock up cell. The complaint that Dumaluan filed before regional office of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) was later dropped. Obenza's assignment to his home province is part of the latest police regional reshuffle where then PRO-7 chief of staff Senior Supt. Vicente Loot takes over Senior Supt. Marcelo Garbo  as the new deputy regional director for operations, as the latter assumes as the new deputy regional director for administration. Ingking assumes as the new PRO-7 chief of staff. Obenza's position as chief of PRO-7 personnel division went to then PRO-7 public information officer Supt. Ernesto Agas, Ingking's former deputy provincial commander.