Bohol police builds on LAB

To earn community’s help

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol Jan 13 (PIA) –Camp Francisco Dagohoy is giving the police motto: serve and protect, a new twist.

In 2022, Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO), along with its partners, built 12 decent houses for Bohol’s poor across its three districts, said Police Lieutenant Colonel Norman Nuez, unit head of the Police Community Affairs and Development (PCAD) during the recent Kapihan sa PIA.

Through project Libreng Alagad ug Balay (LAB) for Law-abiding beneficiaries (lab), it is a package of free service and labor as well as material to build a livable house, 12 family-beneficiaries have since relocated from their earthquake or storm damaged houses to the newly built structures.

Done in partnership with the Provincial Government of Bohol, Dioceses of Tagbilaran and Talibon through its Balay sa Gugma, congressional representatives, law enforcement agencies, business establishments, institutions, organization and volunteers, LAB intends to promote cooperation and partnerships to provide decent shelters to selected beneficiaries from less fortunate families who are God-fearing and law-abiding Boholanos, the police community affairs unit head explained.

More than that, the projects promotes and relives the Filipino Bayanihan while motivating generous Boholanos into helping provide the essential services and materials in building decent shelters to qualified and needing beneficiaries, he added.

The houses measure from 5x10 meters to 6x10 meters with labor provided by police volunteers, carpenters from the communities, LGU workers, so the beneficiaries need not spend for the construction.

He also said that police put in a part of their salaries to the project, putting up the starter fund for another beneficiary.

In turn, most beneficiaries, whom local police authorities identify based on their patrol experiences, pay back by continuing to be good citizens and helping their neighborhood in their activities.

As a frontliner government agency tasked to serve and protect the people’s rights and property, the 2000 police warm-bodies in Bohol face a much bigger and real responsibility:

Taking care of 1.3 million Boholanos, about 800,00 tourists and an undetermined number of day tourists, transients local criminals pose a major challenge that can be remedied by making the police endeared by the communities.

We need all the help we can get, LtCol Nuez hinted as the organization also implemented Generous Officers Offering Desirable deeds in Genuine Community Outreach Program and Services (GOOD COPS).

The program as part of the Community Service-Oriented Policing, intends to dispel the accusations that all policemen are scalawags.

With GOOD COPS, our activities include going to communities giving of food packs, used clothing, tree planting and community service activities, join Brigada Eskwela, clean up drives, offer community information and advocacy lectures on anti-crime, women and children protection, anti-gang, and the Batang Masaya featuring party mascots and events advocacy, he enumerated.

With these, Bohol police is accomplishing decently in its Barangay Drug Clearing program, according to the official.

With 441 barangays remaining to be uncleared of drugs, BPPO is right on track and are already rolling up their sleeves to increase the 60% of 1109 barangays cleared of illegal drugs.

Here, the local police called anew individuals and communities to join them in the police programs to significantly dent on the drug problem as the local force implements measures to reduce the demand and reduce the supply as well. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

SPREADING LAB. BPPO PCAD chief LtCol Norman Nuez and PCorporal Aldrin Palaca shares police accomplishment on their Libreng Alagad ug Balay: a house building program for disadvantaged law-abiding Boholanos, as their way of Community service-oriented policing system to endear the cops to community and hopefully earn their trust and help in crime busting. (PIABohol)