GOVERNOR Roel Degamo challenged police officials and personnel to lower crime figures in the province of Negros Oriental in the coming months.
The governor was the guest of honor and speaker at the opening of the 35-day Criminal Investigation Course of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that reeled off on April 10 at the Negros Oriental Convention Center in Dumaguete City.
“I expect that after your 35-day immersion, I will be seeing a drop in our crime figures here in Negros Oriental,” he said.
He congratulated the PNP for undertaking the investigation course, citing the need to improve and enhance the skills of the police in Negros Oriental so that more cases filed in court are not dismissed due to a technicality.
“It has been observed that some of the cases handled by our police cannot hold water in court because these lack the necessary elements needed for these cases to prosper,” Degamo said.
“Thus, I find it very fitting that you have this 35-day Criminal Investigation Course to enhance your skills and/or competence in (the) field of investigation,” he added.
According to the governor, the course is an effective tool as it is “expected to put you in the right frame and equip you with the needed skills.”
“This would certainly boost our position as a conflict-free and development-ready province,” he said.
Degamo assured that his administration will continue to provide assistance and support to the PNP and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that criminality is brought down to a minimum.
“In my administration, I think this is the fifth or sixth time that a CIC is being conducted,” he said, adding he believed almost all of the PNP personnel in the province had already attended the said training.
Some 50 participants from the PNP, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) are currently attending the training.
Of the number, two are from the Philippine Army of the AFP and two from the PCG, while the rest are from the police stations, said Senior Superintendent Edwin Portento, the acting provincial police director of Negros Oriental.
“Regular course ng PNP for investigators eto but we invited people from Coast Guard, AFP and other agencies para alam nila how we do it (it is a regular course of the PNP for investigators but we invited people from the Coast Guard, AFP, and other agencies so that they would learn how we do it),” Portento said, referring to the PNP’s investigation techniques. (PNP)