BAGUIO CITY – The Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) recently received a 32-person augmentation force from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and a 60-person contingent from the Police Regional Office (PRO) in the Cordillera as additional organic members of the local police force to help in the campaign to suppress lawless violence and help in the anti-drug campaign of the government.
Senior Superintendent George D. Daskeo, BCPO City Director, said the military contingent from the 501s Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, had been distributed in the entrance and exit points of the city while helping conduct mobile checkpoints and foot patrols to help maintain law and order in the city.
The deployment of military personnel in the different parts of the country is part of the orders of President Rodrigo R. Duterte for both the military and police to suppress lawlessness and violence as part measure taken to address the state of lawlessness after the tragic bombing of the Davao city night market last month.
“We call on the public not to be alarmed when seeing the presence of the military because it is part of our efforts to ensure the safety and security of the people, especially in Baguio City, which is considered a potential target of terroristic activities being an urban center,”
Daskeo stressed.
Aside from doing routine mobile and foot patrols with police personnel, he added there are several teams of the military that are deployed in strategic areas in the city that serve as augmentation force anytime in case emergency situations arise.
According to him, the 60-man police contingent from the PRO-COR will be part of the organic members of the local police force to augment staff in the different stations in the city.
With the inclusion of the additional law enforcers, BCPO now has a total staff complement of more than 734 personnel, including the 50 non-uniformed personnel serving in the different offices.
The BCPO official said the additional staff of the local police force will definitely improve crime deterrence through increased police visibility.
The police official appealed to the public to be calm and continue with their regular daily routine and as the presence of military personnel in the different parts of the city is to ensure public safety, and that law and order continues to reign in the city.
Daskeo expressed his gratitude to Chief Superintendent Elmo Francis Sarona, PRO-COR Regional Director, for providing the BCPO with more law enforcers as the city’s huge daytime population reuires increased police presence to prevent the occurrence of crimes and help deny criminals the opportunity to committee crimes.
By Dexter A. See
