Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, CCPO chief, answers questions from the media on Thursday, August 27, 2020 regarding TF-KASALIGAN | Photo from Police Colonel Josefino Ligan
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) has announced on Thursday, August 27, that it has extended the deadline for those who want to join their community-based task force.
Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, CCPO chief, in a media interview, said the extension was made to give applicants ample time to obtain their requirements.
“Previously, we said submission will only be up to August 30, but I guess we need to extend the time for recruitment considering they still need to get medical certificates, TOR (transcript of records), and diploma. This takes time,” Ligan said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
CCPO and the city government recently launched ‘Task Force Kaluwasan sa mga Amigo Cops ug Sugbuanon Ang Gusto sa Atong Liderato nga Ipatuman Gumikan sa hulga sa COVID-19 Alang Natong Tanan (TF KASALIGAN)‘.
TF-KASALIGAN, said Ligan, was formed to help authorities in the city enforce health protocols with augmentation forces from the Philippine National Police (PNP) gradually being recalled to their respective assigned regions.
The CCPO top official said at least 1,125 policemen, including the elite team from the Special Action Force (SAF), were fielded in Cebu City since it returned to the strictest mode of community quarantine last June 15.
But when it was downgraded to general community quarantine (GCQ) on August 1, higher-ups in PNP have started pulling them out.
“We need to fill the vacuum our augmentation forces have left, considering that Cebu City is still under quarantine,” Ligan explained.
The CCPO said among those qualified to join the task force would be unemployed individuals or fresh graduates, provided that they would have Bachelor degrees in Criminology and other courses.
The police are targetting to recruit 200 members for TF-KASALIGAN. As of Thursday, Ligan said over 100 have applied and have showed interest in participating with their initiative.
“We will start the implementation of the task force once we reach the 200-member goal,” he added.
Cebu City’s GCQ status is expected to last until August 31. /dbs