THE Baguio City Police Office recently received a 32-man augmentation force from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and a 60-man contingent from the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera to help suppress lawless violence and help in the enhanced anti-drug campaign of the government.
BCPO director Senior Superintendent George Daskeo said the military contingent came from the 501s Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, which is already distributed to help man the entrance and exit points of the city while helping conduct mobile checkpoints and foot patrols to help maintain law and order in the city.
The deployment of military personnel in the different parts of the country is part of the marching orders of President Rodrigo Duterte for both the military and police to suppress lawlessness and violence with the country still in a state of lawlessness after the tragic bombing of the Davao city night market last month.
“We call on the public not to be alarmed when seeing the presence of the military because it is part of our efforts to ensure the safety and security of the people, especially in Baguio City, which is considered a potential target of terroristic activities being an urban center,” Daskeo stressed.
Aside from doing routine mobile and foot patrols with police personnel, he added there are several teams of the military that are deployed in strategic areas in the city to serve as augmentation force in cases of emergency situations that can occur anytime.
Daskeo the 60-man police contingent from the PRO-COR will be included as part of the organic members of the local police force to improve its manpower in the different stations in the different parts of the city.
With the inclusion of the additional law enforcers, BCPO now has a total of 734 personnel, including the 50 non-uniformed personnel serving in the different offices.
The BCPO official said additional manpower of the local police force will definitely be instrumental in improving the police visibility of law enforcers in crime-prone areas to deter the commission of crimes and send a clear message to the local residents and visitors that the police is very much in control of the situation.
Daskeo also appealed to the public to be calm and continue doing their regular daily routine and not to panic on the presence of military personnel in the different parts of the city because their presence is an assurance that the public is safe and that law and order continues to reign in the city.
Daskeo expressed his gratitude to PRO-COR regional director C/Supt. Elmo Francis Sarona for providing the BCPO with more law enforcers because of the city’s huge daytime population, saying that there is a need for the local police force to increase the police presence around the city to prevent the occurrence of crimes and help deny criminals the opportunity to committee crimes. (Dexter See/PIO)