THE City Government of Tacloban had asked village officials to help the police maintain peace and order in the city amid the ongoing blackout.
City Administrator Irene Chu asked the Office of Barangay Affairs to instruct village chiefs to activate their Barangay Peace Keeping Force, locally known as barangay tanod, to help local policemen in ensuring peace and order.
“The Philippine National Police will need help of auxiliary peace keeping force in Tacloban to maintain peace and order while waiting for electricity to restore,” Chu said.
Tacloban City has a total of 322 police personnel securing its more than 250,000 population.
“We need to activate all our barangay tanod and our volunteer groups especially at night,” Chu told the Office of Barangay Affairs personnel.
She also told them that instead of doing patrol and duty at daytime, the barangay peacekeeping force will do it at nighttime to augment the police personnel.
There has been no electricity in Tacloban City and other areas in Eastern Visayas since July 6, when a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Leyte and damaged power plants in the province. (PNA)