TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Since promoting peace and order to ensure the safety of the citizens of the city is one of the main concerns of the city government, along with its partners such as the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Army (PA), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Land Transportation Office (LTO), and the like, convened for a two-day workshop to formulate the new Peace and Order and Public Safety (POPS) Plan on November 28-29, 2022 at the Las Vegas Hotel.
City Planning and Development Officer Maricel Kiley said the POPS-Plan is in line with the “Ambisyon Natin 2040”, which is the collective long-term vision and aspirations of Filipinos and for the country until the year 2040.
The objective of the POPS-Plan for the city is to generate a plan for the year 2023-2025, specifically, for the participants to acquire knowledge and skills on how to prepare the POPS-Plan, to know the prescribed contents of the POPS-Plan, be informed of the status of the Programs, Projects, Activities (PPAs) from the existing plan, and to firm up their commitment to the crafting of the POPS-Plan
Various problems were discussed, such as the persistence of index and non-index crimes, ongoing informal settlement, children in conflict with the law (CICL), the spread of illegal drugs, the occasional tribal and clan disputes, the existence of Communist Terrorist Groups (CTGs), frequent vehicular traffic accidents (VTA), fire incidents, lack of basic necessities for inmates, and more.
Enrique Baliang, speaking on behalf of City Mayor Darwin Estraero, suggested that if the city government had comprehensive information regarding crimes and other crises, whether they were human-induced or natural, these could be used to serve the needs of the community and establish real peace and order.
He continued by saying that many agencies working together is a good thing because no one office can handle the city’s problems with public order and safety on its own.
After the crafting of the POPS Plan, the technical working group will submit the draft to the City Peace and Order Council for its adoption.
