LAGAWE, Ifugao – The Cordillera Regional development Council (RDC-CAR) and the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC-CAR) passed a resolution commending the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) and the Mountain Province Provincial Police Office (MPPO) for their outstanding and exemplary accomplishments in law enforcement and peacekeeping strategies that contributed in the improvement of the peace and order situation in their areas of jurisdiction.
BCPO headed by Senior Superintendent Ramil Saculles was commended by the RDC-CAR and RPOC-CAR for having been adjudged by numbio.com, a collaborative website, as one of the ten Safest Cities in Southeast Asia based on interviews done with those who frequented the declared safest cities, while the MPPO led by Senior Superintendent Allen S. Ocden was given the recognition for having maintained the 100 percent drug-free barangays since the aggressive implementation of the government’s anti-drug operations.
Police Regional Office–Cordillera (PRO-COR) regional director Chief Superintendent Rolando Z. Nana challenged the two police officials to sustain their gains in law enforcement, peacekeeping and anti-drug operations to serve as a model in the government’s campaign to achieve lasting peace in the country and provide the people with a safe place to live, study, work and do business.
Nana said the achievements of the BCPO and MPPO should serve as motivation for other police operating units in the region to improve their performance and contribute in improving the overall peace and order situation as this will eventually translate to better economic activities contributory to improving the living condition of the inhabitants in the Cordillera.
The inclusion of Baguio city in the list of Safest Cities in Southeast Asia was based on the perception of the people who visited the city, compounded by the prevailing crime rate in the area for a certain period of time, while the MPPO achieve 100 percent drug-free barangays through the active involvement of barangay, municipal and provincial sectors as well as the people who cooperated in efforts to curb the presence of illegal drugs in the province.
Based on the data from the PRO-COR and the Philippine National Police (PNP), of the 144 barangays in Mountain Province, 79 were considered drug-free since the start of the government’s anti-drug campaign while 65 barangays were considered drug-cleared in the course of the campaign which resulted to the province being given the drug-cleared status last year.
Ocden assured the RDC-CAR and RPOC-CAR chaired by Baguio city Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan that personnel of the MPPO will do their best to sustain the status of the province as drug-free through various activities provincewide to thwart attempts of unscrupulous individuals to bring prohibited drugs in any of the barangays as well as those who will attempt to cultivate marijuana in the hinterlands as potential sources of livelihood.
Ifugao province hosted the second quarter joint meeting of the RDC-CAR and RPOC-CAR which was done simultaneous with the province’s founding anniversary and Gotad ed Ifugao festivities.
By Dexter A. See
