Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur provincial police offices activated Monday

COTABATO CITY  (MindaNews / 09 April) — ) The provincial police offices (PPO) of Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur will be activated on Monday, following the deactivation of the PPO of the former lone province of Maguindanao. 

Maguindanao has been divided into two provinces, Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur,  its division ratified in a plebiscite last year. 

The activation will be graced by the chief of the Philippine National Police, General Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. 

Secretary Benjamin Abalos of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and ex officio chair of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) signed on March 1 Resolution No.2023-0213, approving the establishment of Maguindanao Del Sur and Maguindanao Del Norte Police Provincial Offices under type “C” category.

They are categorized under that criteria since they both have lone congressional districts and belong to 3rd and 6th income generating classification of districts.

The two PPOs will be led by officers with the rank of full-fledged Colonels.

The PPO of Maguindanao del Sur will be based in Shariff Aguak town while Maguindanao del Norte’s PPO will be in Parang, according to Brig.Gen. Allan Nobleza, the newly-assigned regional director of Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR).

Maguindanao del Sur has 24 towns while Maguindanao del Norte has 12 towns.

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. on April 5 appointed as OIC Govenors Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu for Maguindanao del Sur and Abdulraof Macacua for Maguindanao del Norte. 

Before their appointments, Mangudadatu was reelected as Governor of the undivided Maguindanao in May last year while Macacua was Senior Minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)