Sunday, November 25, 2007 Autonomy ahead for Lapu’s police station
THE National Police Commission (Napolcom) has approved the upgrading of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station and will soon be independent of the Cebu Provincial Police Office.
This was after the Napolcom approved the change last Oct. 5. Napolcom chairman and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno signed the order and forwarded it to Camp Crame.
Camp Crame, through Police Director Charlemagne Alejandrino, director for plans, initially approved the resolution last Aug. 29.
Even if the top hierarchy of the PNP already approved this, they still needed the approval of the Napolcom, as stipulated in the PNP Law.
This was indicated in a memorandum signed by Regional Operations and Plans Division (ROPD) Chief Mariano Natuel.
This means that the Lapu-Lapu City Police is now under the administrative and operational control of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7.
The status was changed after Lapu-Lapu City became highly urbanized, as determined in a plebiscite last July 21.
Lapu-Lapu met the minimum annual income requirement of P50 million and population requirement of 200,000.
Last April, the City Government asked the President through a resolution to declare Lapu-Lapu a highly-urbanized city.
The city’s income reached P603.47 million in 2005 and its population was recorded at 217,019 as of 2000.
CPPO Director Carmelo Valmoria told reporters last week that the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station is already getting its budget from the PRO 7.
During that interview, though, he had yet to receive an order or notice from the PRO 7 that the Lapu-Lapu City Police Station has been upgraded.
He had said that he welcomed this development because this would mean the Lapu-Lapu City Police would be able to ask for more personnel.
With the upgrading of the station’s status, a police office should be headed by an officer ranked senior superintendent.
Its current chief, Supt. Louie Oppus, holds a rank lower. (MEA)
