Cebu City police ink deal to bolster basic services to community

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City police will work together with the local chief executives of the Cebu City government and the community to bolster the delivery of basic services to the community.

This developed after Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) director, signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Association of Barangay Councils Cebu City (ABC Cebu City) and the Cebu City government to adopt the Community Service-Oriented Policing (CSOP).

Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy director for operations, said that CSOP would be very important in reinforcing the cooperation and collaboration of the community.

Parilla also said that it was also important to include the local chief executives in the agreement because they could help in community-related projects of the police especially in the funding aspect.

“This is very important because considering sa limited resources of the PNP (Philippine National Police), the local chief executive has these funds nga magamit intended sa mga projects sa PNP to include the delivery of the basic services of the local government,” Parilla added.

“Atong gi involve ang chief executives (We involved the chief executives) because they are the ones who will fund whatever projects from the PNP… also this is a directive from the Napolcom (National Police Commission) that there should be a cooperation or coordination between the community or the local chief executives and the community,” Parilla said.

He was referring to Section 2 of Republic Act No. 8551 which highlights the responsibilities of the PNP to become a community service oriented agency.

Parilla said that this MOA would strengthen the rapport among the citizenry, the local executives, and the integrated law enforcement and public safety agencies existing in the locality.

He also said that this agreement would ensure that whatever plan of the chief executives and the PNP would be that it would be included in the Peace and Order and Public Safety (POPS) plan.

He said that the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) would collect those plans so that these plans would be funded by the local chief executives and implemented by the PNP.

“We have limited resources and in order for us, and also for the chief executives nga mafeel ang services ngadto sa mga tawo (to feel the services to the people), so the PNP, the community will have to work hand in hand (for this),” he said.

Councilor Franklyn Ong, ABC Cebu City president, signed the MOA on behalf of the organization while Floro Casas Jr., Cebu City administrator, was the Cebu City government’s representative for the CSOP MOA.

The agreement was signed during the 30th founding anniversary of the PNP on February 8, 2021 at the CCPO grounds.

Also present during the event were representatives of the DILG and some members and the chairman of the Cebu City Police Advisory Council.

/dbs