Saturday, July 07, 2007 Mandaue asks for more cops, wants requirements waived
THE chief of the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) is asking the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to waive the population requirement for reclassifying the office so it would be upgraded from its current status of Class C to Class A.
MCPO Chief Alexander Abadinas said the reclassification will mean so much in augmenting the police personnel in his office, as the policy states that Class C can only have 300 personnel while Class A police offices can have as much as 1,000.
Abadinas pointed out that Mandaue City is highly urbanized now and more industries are expected to come with its officials’ aggressive promotion of the city to attract investors.
However, an official of Napolcom pointed out that Mandaue City does not meet the required 575,000-population for Class A status.
As of the last census, conducted in 2005 and released in 2006, Mandaue City only has over 300,000 in population.
But Abadinas said the Napolcom should not just consider the residents of Mandaue, as its police force also has to serve migrants, transients, workers and students who do not live in the city but transact business in the area every day.
Students
The opening up of Cebu Doctors’ University, for example, would bring in thousands of students to Mandaue so the MCPO will need more personnel.
Right now, Mandaue only has 270 police officers and officials. The number is spread in the different stations and in different shifts.
But Police Regional Office Director Silverio Alarcio said augmentation of forces does not hinge on classification of police offices.
Even if Mandaue City is reclassified and the PNP does not have funds for more recruits, then Mandaue could still not have more police officers.
Alarcio said it would be best if Mandaue could think out of the box and look for other ways to augment its forces, such as hiring auxiliaries.
But Abadinas reasoned that it’s better if his office is reclassified so it can have a chance of getting more, just in case the national office would be hiring.
The Regional Peace and Order Council endorsed the request to Napolcom, as Alarcio said there’s no harm in trying. (JPM)
