THE Police Regional Office (PRO) in Northern Mindanao has raised over P8.5 million from voluntary contributions of policemen to aid the national government in its efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus disease.
Police Brigadier General Rolando Anduyan, PRO-Northern Mindanao director, said the Bayanihan Fund Challenge aims to raise over P200 million in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's candid admission of the government's difficulty in providing the basic needs of the poorest of the poor in the prolonged crisis.
Anduyan said they collected P8,570,320 so far from the pocket of police officers for the government's social amelioration program.
The contributions came from the Regional Mobile Force Batallion 10 - P1,583,000; Cagayan de Oro City Police Office - P987,700; FTP-Cocpo - P120,000; Iligan City Police Office - P120,000; Misamis Occidental Police Provincial Office - P1,013,000; FTP MisOcc PPO - P100,000; Lanao del Norte PPO - P1,073,000; FTP LDN - P100,000; Camiguin PPO - P259,000; Bukidnon PPO - P1,248,000; Misamis Oriental PPO - P707,200; Regional Headquarters Personnel - P1,114,420. The region will be expecting more voluntary collection this week.
"The Bayanihan Fund Challenge is strictly voluntary with no standard amount of contribution specified. The project does not authorize automatic salary deduction or the use of funds sourced from the PNP appropriations," Anduyan said.
The money voluntarily collected will then be turned over to the PNP Director for Comptrollership, the unit primarily responsible for the project, and it will be subsequently turned over to the national treasury or to any of appropriate agency.
"PRO-Northen Mindanao under my leadership will always support the Bayanihan Fund Challenge of Our Organization under the leadership of Police General Gamboa to help the Filipino people who are suffering for this unexpected pandemic. I felt it in my bones, since I had seen the hardship of our Filipino people in the region and this noble activity will surely help a lot to our government in addressing the concerns of our country in this trying times," Anduyan said.
"PRO-Northern Mindanao is grateful to the personnel of Police Regional Office for their contribution and pledges to help the government to provide the basic needs of the fellowmen," he added.