While Guimaras maintains the record of being the most peaceful province in Western Visayas, illegal fishing remains to be the main problem of the law enforcement agencies, with Negrenses among the violators, Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, its newly installed provincial police officer-in-charge said.

De la Paz, who assumed the Guimaras police command July 1, said he will further strengthen the Bantay Dagat task force to stop illegal fishing, and to protect the abundant marine resources of the province from destruction.

Rampant illegal fishing activities have been observed in the municipalities of Nueva Valencia, Buenavista, and Sibunag.

De la Paz said there is a very minimal problem on illegal gambling and proliferation of illegal drugs in Guimaras, with mostly physical injuries and petty crimes reported to the police.

Guimaras is composed of five towns with a 160,000 population.

In some towns, de la Paz said there is an average of five crimes a month. In the past three elections, not a single election-related violent incident took place in Guimaras since 2007, police records also show.

This only shows that Guimarasnons are peace-loving people, he said.

With Guimaras island among the favored tourist destinations in Western Viasyas because of its picturesque beaches, offshore islets and most of all, its mangoes considered among the sweetest in the world, de la Paz said he will activate a “Tourist Police” force to assist the province tourism industry, in terms of security.

De la Paz also said that he will tap the support of local government executives in the renovation of the Guimaras Police Provincial Office, as he also vowed to maintain a stable peace and order of the island and intensify his innovative crime prevention campaign, which he implemented in his previous assignments.

Prior to his assignment in Guimaras, de la Paz served as provincial police director of Iloilo, director of the Bacolod City Police Office and officer-in-charge of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office during, among other staff positions at the Police Regional Office 6.*GPB

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