By: Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) here organized a forum to establish good working relationship between the media and public information officers (PIOs) of all 31 city and municipal police stations in the province yesterday.
The forum served as venue where ideas from both parties were freely shared and the police’s stigma against the media was eased.
During the forum, some members of the media aired their concerns in spot report writing, media interviews, and providing of photos and other materials for a story from the police.
Some salient points from the police media relations manual was also discussed during the forum.
The PIOs, who also served as deputy police chiefs in their respective police stations were tasked to provide information to the media if police chiefs are not available for media interviews.
Police Colonel Romeo Baleros, Negros Occidental police director, said one of his priorities under his leadership is to establish good rapport with the media, adding that they consider them as one of the important lines of defense.
“Imagine the coverage we will be able to reach if we continue to maintain this friendship with our media,” he said.
Aside from being our enablers in community policing, the media also stands as our critics, that’s why being a public servant is accepting the fact that we are placed in the public’s eye and holding ourselves accountable for our actions, Baleros said.
Baleros stressed that with or without the presence of media, they should not fall below that standard of service the public requires.
“Hindi ito isang palabas lamang or what others tag as “pa-pogi sa media,” he said.
“We are taking advantage of organizing the Negros Press Corps to bring order with the media and our city and municipal police stations,” he added.
“This is not a one-way street. We also have to welcome them, accommodate them, and provide them the truth,” he said.
Through this, Baleros is hoping that the public is made attentive of the police, specifically of the Nocppo’s anti-criminality efforts, programs, and activities.
Meanwhile, Police Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Acollador, Nocppo’s deputy provincial director for administration, said “no police work is ever easy without the support of our media counterparts.”
