Querol’s BPAT: Will it make a difference?
Will this be the same old story?
It seems to me that since time immemorial, the country’s police force is trying so hard not only to win public trust and confidence but also to gain the support of the community.
This effort is rational. The police cannot do anything effective and efficient in its campaign against criminality without the community working in partnership with it.
This, the Philippine National Police’s mission underscores the “active support of the community” in its effort to enforce the law, prevent and control crimes, ensure public safety and internal security.
Obviously, the PNP admits that without the community lifting a finger – cooperating in all its major campaigns, it cannot make the country’s peace and order situation any better.
It is so because the PNP is no super body. It can only do a part in the whole campaign toward a more peaceful and orderly community. The lion’s share in the campaign should be done by other stakeholders, especially the residents of that community.
It must be under this premise that the top cop of Western Visayas, Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol Jr., is so vocal about his Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team or BPAT.
As a backgrounder, BPAT is the country’s unique version of community-oriented policing system. By BPAT, the PNP encourages volunteerism among the citizens to work for the prevention and solution of crimes in their respective community. Hence, this policing system stresses police-community partnership to proactively address conditions that give rise to public safety issues, e.g. crimes.
With his pronouncement to fully implement BPAT in Region 6, Querol is now revealing the focus of his leadership. It is expected that under Querol’s term, the community will be at the forefront – the key player in making Western Visayas the best.
To date, Iloilo City in particular is disturbed by gang-initiated crimes. This gang targets taxi drivers as its prey. No doubt, the mentally-deranged members of this ruthless gang are threats to reckon with. They are not only aggressive. They are cold-blooded predators. True Brown Style gang members are out there ready to take chances – to rob and kill taxi drivers or maybe anyone in the street – at night or even in broad daylight.
TBS gang is only one of the enemies of peace here. Can the police bring the gang members behind bars? Yes, but maybe it will take too much time. And maybe the case will also suffer a natural death, until it resurrects in time least expected by us.
The spate of robbery and killing incidents is the main challenge to Querol’s BPAT. When will BPAT kick off? When will it be tested by fire?
BPAT is considered the missing link in the PNP’s quest for a better community, at least with respect to peace and order. But should BPAT remain only a concept or a topic in lecture and forum, it will make Querol appear like a clanging cymbal or a noisy gong.
But should the elected barangay officials, who have attended Querol’s BPAT lecture last November 9 be true to their promise to support the project, BPAT will surely make history in this part of the country.
Should it happen, we could then say that BPAT is never the same old story. When we see BPAT at work, only then we could attest that indeed it is never a wishful thinking. This is especially when this project already starts to make a difference!*
