• THERESA MAE DULMAN
The P15-million funding for the construction of a police station in a barangay-owned property at Purok Kapalaran, near the old airport runway in Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City, has been secured and facilitated by Rep. Alfredo Benitez, punong barangay Rosinie Distrito said.
“This project will be a huge help in maintaining peace and order, not only in Singcang-Airport but also in neighboring barangays. It will enable faster emergency police response and ensure the safety and security of all our residents,” Distrito said in a statement.
Benitez, meanwhile, said that in terms of local infrastructures, they asked barangays regarding their preferred priority projects, either a police station or a community center.
“If I am not mistaken, Singcang-Airport actually has a proposed appropriation of close to a hundred million just for the barangay from the national government,” Benitez, also the House deputy speaker, said Sept. 4.
P/Lt. Colonel Lester Leada, deputy city director for Administration of the Bacolod City Police Office, on the other hand, said they are awaiting approval from the national headquarters to construct additional police stations, adding this is also one of the proposals of the city.
He said that Distrito cited a promise to construct one cop station exclusively for Barangay Singcang-Airport.
Leada added that while the city’s population is currently at around 634,000, reaching 700,000 would entitle Bacolod to an additional police station.
To expand beyond its current maximum limit of 10 stations, the BCPO is seeking a reclassification, from Type B to a Type A city police office, which would allow the establishment of five more stations across the highly-urbanized city. | TMD
