By Jennifer P. Rendon
Amid plans of making police stations as vaccine centers, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO)-6 is planning to construct more standard municipal police stations in Western Visayas.
Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, Western Visayas police chief, said it is part of their preparations if President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to utilize police stations as vaccination hubs will push through.
Earlier, Duterte said police stations could be used as inoculation venues if vaccines for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are made available in the country.
PRO-6 records showed that only 68 of the 147 police stations in the region are considered “standard.”
Twelve police stations are still under construction. These are in the towns of Anini-y, Pandan, San Remegio, Sibalom in Antique province; Ivisan, Jamindan, and Pontevedra in Capiz; Nueva Valencia in Guimaras; and Anilao, Balasan, Cabatuan, and Pototan in Iloilo province.
Relative to Pamuspusan’s goals, station commanders and chiefs of police in areas with no standard police building and lot donation were directed to engage and convince their respective local chief resident executives to help acquire the required lot.
Accordingly, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) considers construction of police station as frontline service, thus, it is treated as priority for funding, the PRO-6 said.
There are 38 municipalities in Western Visayas that have no lot donations, six are in Iloilo; 13 in Negros Occidental; 2 in Capiz; 3 in Guimaras: 4 in Iloilo City; 8 in Bacolod City; and one in Aklan.
Meanwhile, PRO-6 hailed Antique province as all of its 18 municipalities provided the police stations with the required lot.
Pamuspusan said Antique will probably be the first province to have standard PNP-owned police stations in all its municipalities.
Meanwhile, the region’s top has again reminded chiefs of police in maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness of their respective police stations.
PRO-6 has recently embarked on an initiative dubbed as “Oplan Banlaw.”
The project just calls for repair or repainting of all PNP facilities and offices to give them a facelift they deserve.
Pamuspusan said the simple project would boost the PNP’s effort in rendering better services to their clientele by giving them a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
“It’s one way of bringing back the dignity of men in uniform,” he said.
