ILOILO City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is deploying one personnel in every barangay across Western Visayas to bolster police-community partnership and anti-crime strategy.
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, PRO-6 director, said each policeman will supervise a barangay to maintain peace and order as well as assist barangay officials in case of disasters.
“Bawat police sa municipal police station ay may hahawakan na barangay na sya ang in-charge sa peace and order. This is one way to make the police closer to the community,” said Pamuspusan.
If police forces are not enough to cover all villages in a city or municipality, barangays can be clustered, he explained.
According to Pamuspusan, this initiative is part of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP)“Pulis sa Barangay” program.
Any activities undertaken by the Pulis sa Barangay, Pamuspusan said, must be made in close coordination with barangay officials, other stakeholders and support groups.
The police personnel to be deployed must hold the rank of Police Corporal.
“Our personnel must be familiar with the peace and order situation, terrain and culture of the place for him to become an effective Pulis sa Barangay. This designation is an addition to the present duties and responsibilities of a police officer and their primary function is to serve as conduit between the PNP and the barangay,” the region’s top cop said
Pamuspusan added: “We do not want to interfere. We just want to let the community be actively involved in peacekeeping.”/PN
