The Bacolod City Police Office has been asked by the Sangguniang Panlungsod to assign additional personnel to the area where the educational assistance for indigent students will be distributed to ensure and maintain order, safety, and the security of everyone.
The payout center for Bacolod in this Saturday’s assessment and distribution is at the third floor of SM City Bacolod North Wing, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Western Visayas announced this morning, Aug. 26.
Bacolod Councilor Em Legaspi Ang, who authored the resolution approved by the SP Wednesday, said there is a need for policemen in the payout area to prevent another near stampede that occurred during the first payout Aug. 20.
Ang said more than 2,000 people lined up as early as night of Aug. 19 to avail of the educational assistance to qualified beneficiaries from the whole province of Negros Occidental at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central in Bacolod City.
This “nearly resulted in a stampede when the Ayala Malls opened its doors and people rushed inside and damaged the automatic door”, she added.
The assignment of police personnel in the designated payout site is to ensure and maintain order, safety, and security of everyone in the area, including the mallgoers and workers, and to prevent the same incident that happened last Saturday from happening again, the resolution added.
Aside from SM Bacolod, the other areas in Negros Occidental for the Aug. 27 payout are San Carlos City for qualified beneficiaries in the 1st District, the Philippine Normal University in Cadiz City for the 2nd District, Silay City public plaza covered court for the 3rd District, Barangay Lag-asan covered court in Bago City for the 4th District, the Himamaylan City Hall for the 5th District, and the Talubangi Gym in Kabankalan City for the 6th District.
The DSWD said walk-in applicants will not be accommodated. “Please wait for a text message, email, or notification from the DSWD that you are included in the assessment and payout on Aug. 27,” the DSWD told would-be beneficiaries in an advisory, and urged those who have not received any confirmation not to go to the designated payout center to prevent overcrowding./CGC
