Querol, village chiefs to discuss police-barangay partnership
Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol Jr., police regional director, is seeking to strengthen his advocacy on the creation of Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams (BPATs) by establishing partnerships with newly elected barangay chairmen in Iloilo City.
This afternoon, Querol will discuss the barangay peacekeeping operations (BPKO) with the village officials.
The BPKO is a comprehensive and “catch all” strategy of the Philippine National Police by tapping the peace and order stakeholders in the community. It also aims to help in the data and intelligence report gathering.
BPKO also serves as a means to ensure the effective prevention, control and suppression of crimes and efficient management of disasters and emergencies.
Senior Supt. Dennis Basngi, director of Iloilo City Police Office, along with the commanders of the six district police stations, and heads of the community police action centers (COMPACs) will also participate.
“There is a need for everybody to understand police-community partnership in preventing crimes,” Querol said.
BPAT volunteers are also expected to act as monitoring agents in their respective villages.
Querol, however, said they still have a problem in the recruitment of BPAT volunteers, who basically won’t get any financial remuneration.
The BPAT shall function solely for community-based activities, information campaign in support to PNP’s anti-criminality effort, crime prevention and on-the-spot conflict resolution.
Aside from barangay tanods, BPAT is composed of various sectors in the community like non-governmental organizations and retired police and military personnel.*
