THE Bacolod City Council approved a resolution requesting Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Francisco Ebreo to assign at least two police officers at the AVM Bernardo slaughterhouse at Barangay Handumanan.
The resolution, authored by Councilor Bartolome Orola, was approved during the regular session Wednesday.
Orola, chairperson of the City Council committee on markets, said policemen should be assigned at the slaughterhouse to conduct visibility and as a deterrent to any criminality in the area.
He said there has been the observation that police visibility is needed at the slaughterhouse to prevent criminality including intimidation and threats or harassment of the meat inspectors and other employees, especially when meat vendors are denied approval for slaughter and condemned during the antemortem inspection.
“There is an occasion when meat vendors or livestock suppliers bringing bladed weapon or guns in the premises of AVM Bernardo which can be used as weapons of intimidation, thereby affecting the proper implementation of their duties,” he added.
Orola noted that the City Council as the legislative body of the city has the power to enact resolutions to maintain peace and order by enacting measures to prevent and suppress lawlessness.
Orola disclosed that for maximum effectiveness, police visibility should be present at the start of the antemortem inspection of the meats inspectors, preferably from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. as well as during the peak season operation like Christmas and New Year when they are operating 24/7.