VILLAGE-BASED COPS. At least 291 police personnel in the Caraga Region complete a 15-day specialized training Wednesday (Sept. 14, 2022), as part of the revitalized “Pulis sa Barangay” program aimed at thwarting communist recruitment in various areas of the region. The graduation ceremony was led by PRO-13 Director Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. (2nd from right) and Agusan del Sur Gov. Santiago Cane Jr. (3rd from right) who served as the guest of honor and speaker. (Photo courtesy of PRO-13)
BUTUAN CITY – Some 291 police personnel who completed special training for the revitalized “Pulis sa Barangay” program will help avert efforts of the communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels to re-infiltrate communities in the Caraga Region.
Maj. Jennifer Ometer, Police Regional Office-Caraga (PRO-13) information office head, said the graduates will be deployed in different barangays in the region prone to NPA recruitment.
“These police personnel has undergone a 15-day specialized training that culminated Wednesday,” Ometer said in an interview Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr., the PRO-13 director, said the “Pulis sa Barangay” program aims to sustain the gains of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in its community support program and focused military operations.
“Police personnel under the program will also help ensure the safe implementation of Barangay Development Programs (BDPs) in the different villages in the region,” Caramat said.
He said the program seeks to complement the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, especially in the implementation of the BDPs.
“The revitalized Pulis sa Barangay is a well-organized tool that will address insurgency mainly in the grassroots, and is worthy to be duplicated by other places,” Caramat said.
The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The National Democratic Front was formally designated as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and inseparable part” of the CPP-NPA created in April 1973. (PNA)
