PATROL Partylist Representative Jorge Bustos is set to file a bill that will create a public reserve force.
During his Monday (July 19) engagement with student-motorcyclists in the City of San Fernando, Bustos cited the need to have a pool of reservists that will assist professionals.
"This pandemic has caught us all off guard. Many sacrifices were made due to lack of knowledge and preparation when such incidents happen and we don't want that to happen again," he said.
He lamented that during the onset of the lockdown, the government crammed in looking not only for medical personnel, but also auxiliary forces that will help man checkpoints to ensure that only essential persons were going out of their residences.
"If we had a ready pool of reservists, we could have focused our efforts in looking for and ensuring the safety of our medical personnel who were and still are at the the forefront of our battle against Covid-19," Bustos said.
Under the eyed bill creating public safety and auxiliary force, all college graduates will become reserve personnel who will augment country's public safety practitioners in the response against imminent threats and unforeseen calamities such as Covid-19.
Bustos said he is in the process of consulting with different sectors to ensure that the bill will be inclusive once filed in the Congress.
"We want to hear inputs from all sectors because public safety is everybody's concern and that is what Patrol has been advocating for the past years," he said.