MCPO to add 2 police stations when class B status gets PNP OK

The MCPO or the Mandaue City Police Office will soon have two more police stations with their being qualified to be raised to become a Class B police office. | CDN Digital file photo

MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Mandaue City will soon have two more police stations after the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) was qualified to be elevated as a class B police office from being a class C.

Aside from the additional police stations, these would also mean that there would be additional police personnel, logistics, and finance that would be funded by the Philippine National Police (PNP), said Police Lieutenant Colonel Franc Rudolf Oriol, MCPO deputy city director for operations and spokesperson.

“Para sa amoa dako ni siya og advantage sa atoang katawhan sa operational capability nato kay madugangan ta og personnel, logistics, station. So mas mahatagan pa nato og mas maayo nga serbisyo atoang katawhan kay kung sobra ka dako ang jurisdiction sa usa ka station maapektuhan man ang response time, maapektuhan ang serbisyo nga haom. Kung mabahin ni og walo so magamay-gamay ang matag area sa police station,” said Oriol.

(For us, this is an advantage to our personnel with regard to operational capability because we will have more additional personnel, logistics and stations. So, we can provide better service to the public because if the area under the jurisdiction of a police station is bigger this can affect the response time and the right service to the public. If the areas to be covered would be divided into eight, then the area to be handled by each police station would be smaller.)

Oriol said that they were informed by the National Police Commission of the MCPO being qualified to be elevated to Class B.

He said that among the factors being considered for raising the status of the police office included the local government unit’s population and income.

He, however, did not further elaborate on the other factors leading to the MCPO being qualified to move to the next class.

City Council resolution

Oriol said that they were coordinating with the City Council as they worked to complete the process which included a resolution from the council about the matter and to be submitted to the PNP headquarters and the National Police Commission for approval.

City Councilor Oscar Del Castillo, chairman of the committee on Police, Fire, and Penology, said they were already working on the resolution for this.

When approved, Oriol said that the MCPO status would then be raised to Class B and then two more police stations would be added to the MCPO.

Oriol again cited the benefits of having the status of the MCPO raised to the next level and the importance of having more police stations.

He said that this development would help improve the peace and order situation of the city because the more police stations, the more areas would be patrolled, the quicker would be the police responses to emergencies.

Oriol, however, clarified Mandaue City had a low crime rate.

At present, Mandaue City only has six police stations that are located in barangays Centro, Subangdaku, Basak, Casuntingan, Opao, and Canduman.

Ideal police to population ratio

Police Colonel Jeffrey Cabales, MCPO director, said the ideal police-to-population ratio was 1 policeman for every 500 persons, but currently, in the city their ratio was 1:600, which meant that they lacked personnel.

Caballes said that if the MCPO would be elevated to the next level and so, instead of the current 547 police personnel of the police office, this would be increased to 800 policemen.

“Masulod na gyud to nato’ng mga lugar nga sudlunon,” said Caballes.

(We can now enter areas where before we cannot enter  then [because of the lack of manpower].)

Meanwhile, Oriol said that if the resolution would be approved, then there would be a reclassification of the jurisdiction of the police stations.

He said that they planned to put the two new police stations in Barangays Subangdaku and Centro.

Oriol said that these two barangays were among Mandaue City’s biggest barangays, and these areas were where a lot of businesses and schools were located.

RELATED STORIES

MCPO Director Caballes vows to solve lady lawyer’s ambush

Mandaue to wait for Malacañang EO before amending face mask ordinance

Mandaue mayor: 12 new classrooms for MCC

NBI to conduct parallel probe in ambush of lawyer, son in Mandaue

PNP sounds alarm on crimes vs students

/dbs