AWARD. Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, director of Police Regional Office-Western Visayas, awards the Philippine National Police Wounded Personnel Medal to Lt. Charles Richard Casalan, deputy chief of Binalbagan Municipal Police Station, at a hospital in Bacolod City on Monday (Feb. 14, 2022). Casalan was injured when NPA rebels detonated an anti-personnel mine by the roadside while his team was responding to a call for assistance on February 13.(Photo courtesy of Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office) BACOLOD CITY - All stations and units under the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) have strengthened security operations after two policemen were wounded in a roadside blast perpetrated by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) in the southern town of Binalbagan on February 13. "After the incident, we have switched to full alert status. We don't want any incident like that to happen again in our police stations especially those in vulnerable areas," said Lt. Abegael Donasco, the NOCPPO spokesperson, in a virtual press conference on Tuesday. During the encounter in Barangay Bi-ao, Lt. Charles Richard Casalan, deputy chief of Binalbagan Municipal Police Station, and Cpl. Julius Tranquillero were injured when the NPA rebels detonated an anti-personnel mine by the roadside. The rebels fired at the team while responding to a call for police assistance in a sitio where a man was found dead. When the police fired back, the enemy set off the landmine. Donasco said the act of the communist-terrorists in using innocent persons as bait to target policemen was a form of cowardice. She added the police stations have been instructed to verify all complaints and call for assistance to ensure that the lives of their personnel will not be put in danger. Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, director of Police Regional Office-Western Visayas (PRO-6), condemned what he calls a "treacherous act" of the CPP-NPA. In the afternoon of February 14, Dongbo visited Casalan in a hospital in this city and awarded him the Philippine National Police Wounded Personnel Medal and also gave him cash assistance. The PRO-6 chief also commended the bravery of the Binalbagan police personnel in performing their duty with dedication and commitment. The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. The National Democratic Front has been formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as "an integral and inseparable part" of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA) }