Five new police stations are being eyed to be established in Bacolod City in the wake of unsolved shooting incidents in January and February this year.
The rising crimes made the business community restless as Bacolod City Police Office chief, Col. Manuel Placido, allayed fears of traders, whom he met with Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Peace and Order.
Placido proposed that the five new police stations will be established in Barangay Alangilan, Barangay Granada, and Barangay Cabug, among others, in the hope that they will cover eastern to southern areas of the city and make response time as quickly as possible when situations arise.
Espino said, however, that while his committee supports the move to address rising criminal activities, there is still a need to further study the proposal as to the specific locations and coverage of each station or sub-station.
Espino promised he will support the funding requirements.
Placido told officials of various business groups such as Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bacolod Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry that an agreement has already been reached between the BCPO and the Bantug family for the lot donations.
The meeting was called to discuss solutions to the spate of killings in the city during the first two months of the year.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod last week passed a resolution authored by Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. urging the BCPO to take measures to avert continuing crimes perpetrated by riding in tandem suspects whose identities remain are unknown.
The council noted the 12 shooting incidents in the month of January and February and most of these cases are considered unsolved.
Espino said the local government is providing extra P1,000 allowance for each BCPO policeman, taken from the city’s monthly Pagcor share.
But Espino said the city is concerned on how to sustain the amount of P600,000 to P700,000 a month since Pagcor had already stopped giving monthly assistance to the city since last year due to its non-operation because of the pandemic. – MML
