PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo (File photo)
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday said police officers assigned to stations in the EMBO (Enlisted Men's Barrio) barangays will not be included in the transfer of jurisdiction from Makati City to Taguig City.
In a Laging Handa briefing, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said only police stations in these areas would be included in the transfer of jurisdiction in compliance with the Supreme Court (SC) decision, declaring that the 10 barangays in the area are part of Taguig and not Makati.
“The only concern on the part of the PNP is because those areas that used to be under the Makati City Police Station (CPS) will be turned over to Taguig CPS, the Makati personnel will remain there in Makati but what is being planned there is to have a transition as well. A few Makati CPS personnel would remain to support the police personnel from Taguig who will take over,” Fajardo said.
She said they are also working with concerned government agencies to ensure an orderly transition.
“Because our Makati police are more familiar with their areas of jurisdiction so that the police who will take over can be briefed and supported, but definitely those PNP personnel will be retained by Makati and the Taguig personnel will be the ones who will take over there in the jurisdictions to be left by the Makati police,” she said.
The villages that would be transferred to Taguig's jurisdiction per the SC ruling are Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Northside and Southside.
Meanwhile, Fajardo said their preparations for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) are ongoing.
“Next week there is a scheduled security command conference and that will be discussed. Whatever mandate the Comelec (Commission on Elections) gives us because the Comelec will actually follow it but on the part of the PNP, that is also our function in the maintenance of peace and order and that is where the PNP will focus,” she said.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government earlier said it is working with Comelec to prepare the 10 new villages of Taguig -- Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo, Pitogo, Rizal, Northside and Southside -- for the Oct. 30 polls.
The Taguig City government also maintained that it does not need a writ of execution to exercise its jurisdiction over the 10 EMBO barangays.
"The SC decision is self-executing. Government agencies have voluntarily complied conformably to law. Taguig does not need a Writ of Execution to exercise jurisdiction over Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation consisting of parcels 3, and 4 of Psu 2031," it added a statement.
It noted that the dispositive portion of the SC’s final decision is clear and unambiguous:
--Parcels 3 & 4 of Psu 2031 (which comprises the 10 barangays) belong to Taguig.
--The preliminary injunction issued by the Regional Trial Court of Pasig, stopping Makati from exercising jurisdiction over, making improvements on, or treating as part of its territory, Parcels 3 and 4, is made permanent.
"These two dispositions are self-executing. The nature and tenor of the permanent injunction against Makati do not require a writ of execution for the decision to be implemented. The 10 barangays within Parcels 3 & 4 have been confirmed and declared as within the territory of Taguig. It is final and executory. As a legal consequence, Makati is automatically and immediately divested of authority over the area. It does not have to do anything. Taguig, by force of the Decision, is legally obliged to immediately exercise jurisdiction over its territory. There cannot be a vacuum in the exercise of jurisdiction on the 10 barangays," Taguig City government said.
In a letter dated July 25, SC Administrator Raul Villanueva said the high court's decision "should be the subject of a Writ of Execution before the trial court of origin."
This is in response to Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 46 Executive Judge Gina Bibat-Palamos' query regarding the handling of pending cases by courts in areas affected by the SC decision.
"When the said writ has been implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government, then that is the reckoning period for the transfer of jurisdiction of cases emanating from the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation, consisting of Parcels 3 and 4, Psu-2031, from Makati City to the City of Taguig," Villanueva said. (PNA)
