MikeLigalig.com

source: Bohol Chronicle

Gov. Edgar Chatto called on town mayors to strengthen their respective Municipal Peace and Order Councils (MPOCs) to address the rising incidence of robberies in some municipalities.

He said that these MPOCs will serve as stable groundwork for the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC).

In the first PPOC meeting that Chatto presided Monday, the governor said he will see to it that every town will have the regular bodies that are required by the Local Government Code, "so that all towns in Bohol can move in the same fashion with the provincial government".

This is in response to the observation of DILG Provincial Director Rustica Mascariñas that "not all towns have active MPOCs".

According to Mascariñas, the MPOCs can help in prompt action on any concern of peace and order. Her suggestion to establish a coordination system in monitoring criminality was well taken.

Mascariñas also suggested that the PPOC members must be informed of any crime promptly without waiting for the next PPOC meeting to be convened.
         
On this, Gov. Chatto suggested the local government units to provide the municipal police stations in their respective jurisdiction with communication lines and may utilize the wireless phones in lieu of landlines.

He also took the suggestion of Provincial Board Member Brigido Imboy, chair of the Committee on Peace and Order, to call on the municipal police stations to have a permanent cellphone numbers to which the informants from the community can send their information about any crime.

The governor also requested the police to tackle specific crimes and determine how far their investigation has gone, instead of just summarizing them in terms of crime volume and number of operations.

Chatto finds the short messaging service (SMS) or text messages effective in reporting promptly any crime to authorities.

He also announced that the provincial government will be establishing a Quick Response Team that will receive and respond to calls for assistance, and not only for responding emergencies during disasters.

Macariñas, for her part, suggested that Globelines must also be asked to provide a three-digit hotline for the police, like the 166 provided by the PLDT and Cruztelco.

Chatto also highlights the necessity to strengthen the pillars of justice and the role of PPOC in sustaining the peace and order achieved in the past administrations.

The PPOC intends to implement the former President Arroyo's Administrative Order, patterned after the United States policy, which called for coordination between the police team and the prosecutors in examining a scene of the crime.
The representative of the prosecutors can brief the responding police teams on what pieces of evidence that would be needed for the case to prosper.

Chatto also wants to make sure that "nothing's left unattended as far as the benefit of the people is concerned".

"There is no development without peace. And, there is no engagement in business for growth of economy without ensuring good peace and order. PPOC is an important component of development in community," Chatto emphasized.

He intends to strengthen the peace and order in the province by providing a "listening ear…in participatory governance with all sectors in community".

"It is important that we share openly. No idea will be disregarded, because from these ideas we can come up with good policies," Chatto said.

He also announced that PPOC will finalize its list of new members, based on its national counterpart as provided by the executive order followed by the central authority.

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