Tagbilaran City Police Station (TCPS) chief Supt. Patrico Degay Jr. on Monday said that he will be requesting Camp Dagohoy to augment the capital’s police forces amid activities expected to draw large crowds such as the Holy Week and ASEAN Summit (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings this month.
According to Degay, the TCPS is need of 30 more policemen to heighten police visibility in barangays of Tagbilaran City.
Degay said that this will also improve the police’s response time to distress calls particularly as theft and burglary cases have grown rampant.
The police chief who took over the helm of the TCPS last week also visited barangay officials to enlist their aid in securing their respective villages.
With TCPS undermanned, barangay tanods (village watchmen) play a crucial role in maintaining peace and order in Tagbilaran City, said Degay.
For his part, SPO1 Celso Orapa of the TCPS said that policemen in the city are now intensifying security preparations for the ASEAN meetings which are expected to draw around 250 delegates from the 10-nation bloc on April 19 to 22.
The TCPS is currently planning the strategic dispatch of policemen who will be stationed along routes which will be taken by the ASEAN leaders and their entourage during their four-day stay, added Orapa.
The meetings in Bohol are among 120 ministerial, senior official and technical working group meetings which will be conducted throughout the year.
Conferences in Bohol will include the AHKFTA (Free Trade Agreement between ASEAN and Hong Kong) Trade Negotiating Committee and Related Meetings, according to the schedule of yearlong activities released by the ASEAN.
The 30th ASEAN Summit will be on April 26 to 29 in Metro Manila with the major summit held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on the last day.
As the chair of ASEAN Summit 2017, which coincides with the regional grouping’s 50th year anniversary, the Philippines will also host the 31st ASEAN Summit on November 10 to 14 in Clark, Pampanga. (Allen Doydora and Jumarie Loquez, HNU MassComm intern)