SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique – The province of Antique has joined the nationwide simultaneous memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing of the Community and Service-Oriented Policing (CSOP), which seeks to strengthen police law enforcement and its delivery of basic services.
During an interview at the Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO) after the MOA signing, lawyer Jorelyne Gasataya, National Police Commission (Napolcom) Regional Office 6 Investigation Unit chief, said the activity is being done nationwide Monday for the police in collaboration with the local government unit (LGU) and the community.
The MOA aims to enjoin the police to effectively perform their role, not only as mere law enforcers, but also in delivering basic services.
"It is traditional thinking that the police is for law enforcement, but they have the third function to assist the local chief executives in the effective delivery of basic services to the communities,” she said.
She said as for the APPO, headed by Senior Supt. Leo Irwin Agpangan, it is going to create a technical working group to identify the specific basic services that they are going to undertake.
She said the police also may help in addressing the garbage disposal problem of the community.
“The Napolcom, as the overseer, will be monitoring the police initiatives then,” she said.
The community, represented by the Citizen Crime Watch provincial chair Rosendo Arnaiz, will identify the common crimes and provide information to the police and relay them to the local chief executives.
The community, police and local officials will come up with solutions to address these problems.
Aside from Agpangan and Arnaiz, other signatories to the MOA were Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao, Antique provincial government consultant on peace and order Margie Gadian, and Napolocom provincial officer Alfonso Combong III. (PNA)
