MAYOR Jonas Cortes is hoping to expand police visibility within Mandaue City with the appointment of the new Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) chief.
Cortes told reporters on Friday, August 5, 2022, that he plans to install mobile police units, particularly in the areas of Jagobiao and A.S. Fortuna St. flyovers.
The mayor believes these areas are strategic to ensure safety among tourists and the Mandauehanons, stressing that these areas do not have an accessible physical police station.
"Our flyovers are very strategic. They are intersections, major highways, and major thoroughfares. If we can put police substations, at least the public and tourists will feel generally safe seeing that there are police within these areas," Cortes said.
"So, any untoward incidents will be recorded," he added.
The mobile police vans, he said, come with portable toilets and air conditioners. But he did not confirm yet how many police officers would be deployed for each unit.
These mobiles must also be 24/7 available to attend to any possible crimes, said Cortes.
The city remained less in crime rate, garnering only at least 16 crimes per month. It even ranked the top performing police office in Crime Solution Efficiency in Central Visayas for 2021 with 96.11 percent, Police Lieutenant Colonel Franco Rudolf Oriol, deputy city director for operations and spokesperson of the MCPO, said earlier.
Along with strengthening the city's police force, Cortes said he aims to upgrade MCPO from a class C to a class B police station.
Cortes said that before the appointment of the new MCPO chief, he and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) discussed the upgrade, and he plans to pursue it with the new MCPO head.
The city police stations are classified into three categories (class A, B, and C) following a Napolcom ordinance. Some of the categories carefully looked into for an upgrade are the city's population and a city ordinance requiring such an upgrade, Oriol said.
With that, Cortes plans to revive the city ordinance requesting the advancement of MCPO's classification that he filed back when he served Mandaue as a city councilor.
Earlier, Police Colonel Jeffrey Caballes replaced Police Colonel Roland Bulalacao as MCPO officer-in-charge as per the directive of the Police Regional Office-Central Visayas.
Cortes then assured full support for Caballes and looked forward to future collaborations and joint endeavors of the MCPO and local government under his leadership. (HIC)