A good police relationship with the community is vital in bringing peace and order in the community, including high compliance by the public of health protocols during this pandemic.
Mayor Gabino Ganggangan of Sadanga, Mountain Province underscored this to the men and women of Police Regional Office-Cordillera when he graced the 25th Police Community Relations Month on July 31 as the guest of honor and speaker.
Ganggangan, who is also one of the civilian awardees, said the execution of police functions is a big factor to the people’s perception of the police.
“Largely how all the members of the police force execute their functions towards the objective of their mandate is of course a big factor in forging the kind of relationship between our police force and the community,” he said.
He cited the government’s war on drugs, which is a mandate given to the police but the way it was executed has gained various responses from the community.
He also cited the police implementation of the community quarantine to help curb the pandemic, where he saw the need to explain the value of observing quarantine to his constituents, relating it with indigenous practices of “teer si far-in” (stay at home or rest day).
The “teer” or rest day is a tradition which the Sadanga community observes when faced with calamity or tragic incident. During this period which traditionally lasts from one day to three days, visitors are not allowed to enter the community while villagers are not allowed to go out.
He said this made the idea of enforcing community quarantine in light of the pandemic acceptable and understandable to communities in the highlands.
“Most of the times, people would resist orders but if local officials would cooperate with police officers in trying to explain things to people, I don’t find it really hard to enforce discipline and enforce things we wanted to enforce. So in terms of police community relations, I think I have to underscore the need for the police forces especially the police officers to maintain that good rapport and sense of cooperation with community leaders like the elected officials,” he said.
The other PCR awardees for 2020 are Baguio City Police Office Director, Col. Allen Rae Co, as outstanding PCR senior police commissioned officer (PCO); Lt. Glorina Dulay as outstanding PCR junior PCO; M/Sgt. Junia Talingdan as outstanding PCR senior non-commissioned officer and Cpl. Cherizette Faye Turqueza as outstanding PCR junior NCO.
The Ifugao Provincial Police Office, BCPO, Tabuk City Police Station and the Bakun Municipal Police Station are the outstanding police units.
The other civilian awardees are Mayor Garde Cardenas of Sallapadan, Abra; Juanita Salisipan; Rafael Valencia of 911 On-Call; Rev. Fr. Noel Buyuccan; and the Sadanga local government unit. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 25, 2024
