Brigadier General Ronnie Montejo, the director of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), will head the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Central Visayas (PRO-7) police office beginning Tuesday, December 1.

The PNP made the announcement on Monday, November 30. 

Central Visayas has a population of about 7 million, and includes the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor.

The areas under Montejo’s responsibility also include Metro Cebu, the second biggest metropolitan outside Metro Manila. The region was considered a hot spot of the drug war for the number of unsolved killings here prior to the COVID-19 lockdowns. 

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Neighboring Negros Island is also an area affected by political violence and insurgency that previous regional directors have struggled to contain.

Montejo, a member of the Philippine National Police Academy Tagapagbuklod Class of 1989, has been in his post in Quezon City for over a year.

During his time as Quezon City police chief, Montejo focused on cracking down on erring police officers while continuing an aggressive anti-drug campaign.

Central Visayas’ current director Brigadier General Albert Ferro will return to headquarters at Camp Crame to take over as director of the police’s information and communications technology department.

Ferro, who has been leading the PRO-7 since February, was supposed to be reassigned last September to Southern Luzon, but Camilo Cascolan, the PNP chief at the time, decided to extend his stay here.

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Members of the Cebu City Council recently named Ferro an adopted son of Cebu City for his leadership during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The city was named a second “epicenter” of the outbreak in July, but it managed to flatten its epidemic curve by September, when cases began to drop. Ferro was highly involved in the policy, strategy, and enforcement of quarantine protocols in Cebu City.

Other new appointments include:

• Brigadier General Danilo Macerin, Director, Quezon City Police District 
• Brigadier General Conrado Gongon Jr, Director, Communications and Electronic Services
• Colonel Jose Hidalgo Jr, Director, Directorate Integrated Police Operations Western Mindanao
• Leo Francisco, Director, Manila Police District
• Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, Director, Police Regional Office 6 (Eastern Visayas)

– Rappler.com