POLICE Station 7 of the Cebu City Police Office will finally have a new home in Barangay Inayawan after incoming mayor and outgoing Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella threw in his support for the building’s construction.
The current station is located in Barangay Pardo next to the public market.
Work on the P5-million project had to be halted in March 2019 because Inayawan Barangay Captain Kirk Bryan Repollo wanted the police to use another lot.
Aside from pointing out that the barangay was using the lot as a parking area for the barangay’s vehicles, such as garbage trucks, a Kaohsiung bus, a coaster and minibus, among others, the official also said that the 2017 barangay resolution for its donation to the police did not include an authorization for his predecessor, Lutherlee “Lotlot” Ignacio-Soon, to sign the deed of donation.
But for Labella, security was foremost in his mind.
“I will help the police because the presence of the police station is a deterrent to crime, especially in that area where illegal drugs were confiscated. The proliferation of drugs in Inayawan has to stop,” he said.
Earlier this year, 18 kilos of shabu with a street value of P122.4 million were seized from Elymar Ancajas, who was arrested by police not far from the proposed site of the police station last March 3.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Debold Sinas had sought Labella’s assistance so the construction could resume since outgoing Mayor Tomas Osmeña wouldn’t help them.
The PRO 7 had erected a fence around the 500-square-meter property only to have the barangay led by Repollo dismantle it last March, citing the fence was a nuisance and a traffic hazard.
He said that as barangay captain, he had police powers and he had the right to demolish it.
Repollo had clarified that they were not against the construction of the police station in the barangay. But he wanted it built on a former playground near the barangay’s sports complex.
The area, though, is smaller compared to the lot the barangay donated during Soon’s time.
According to the PRO 7, it is not big enough to house a police station.
With Labella soon to take over the helm of City Hall at noon on June 30, the PRO 7 can rest assured that the project will get off the ground.
The PRO 7 will need the City Government to issue the excavation permit, fencing permit and the building permit for the project.
It didn’t try to secure these documents before due to the strained relations between the police and the Osmeña administration. (FROM PAC OF SUPERBALITA CEBU / PJB)