Close coordination needed to prevent 'misencounters', PRO-9 chief says

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Close coordination and joint operations are vital to preventing "misencounters" like the incident in Samar on Monday that left six police officers dead, the regional police director for the Zamboanga Peninsula said.

Chief Superintendent Billy Beltran, director of Police Regional Office 9, said this is a concern when police and military units operate in the same area against different armed groups.

"[T]hat is a very big concern in the region considering both state forces are operating against varied threat groups. We, in the leadership, recognized that [a 'misencounter'] is a very big possibility ... especially in the field, where it is hard to identify who’s who," Beltran said in media conference Thursday.

Beltran said that units in the Zamboanga Peninsula are under strict directives for close coordination with Police Regional Office 9 and with the military's Western Mindanao Command to prevent "misencounters" when operating in the same area.

Beltran said the Philippine National Police is aware that the military has the primary role in internal security operations.

“And that is why before we move for an ISO, whether it is minor or major, or whatever move in the particular area, we ensure that it coordinated,” Beltran said.

He said that protocol in the region is for police to call the operations center of their military counterpart and inform them that police units will be operating on the ground. The military does the same when it has its own operation.

Once informed of a counterpart's operations, police or military personnel halt ongoing operations to give way to the mission.

"Or better still we make it a joint operation. In this case, we can avoid the so-called fog of war," Beltran added.

He said there have been no reports of "misencounters" in Western Mindanao.