The City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) chaired by Mayor John Dalipe has passed a resolution requesting the Philippine National Police (PNP) through the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to increase or double the number of police stations in Zamboanga City from 11 at present to 22.

Aimed at intensifying police visibility to curb criminality in the barangays, the move was approved during the CPOC’s third quarter meeting last Friday, July 14. 

The proposal seeks to create 11 new police stations in addition to the existing 11, taking into consideration the population and geographical location of each station. The city government will provide or purchase the lots and construct the police station buildings, while the PNP will provide the necessary police personnel of at least 45 each PS. 

It was further suggested that bonafide residents of Zamboanga City will be given priority in the local recruitment of police officers even as it was observed that only very few locals had applied for the police during the recent hiring. Majority of the applicants were non-residents of the city. 

In fact, city police director Col. Alexander Lorenzo has also admitted that of the 1,670-strong personnel of the Zamboanga City Police Office only a small fraction is native to Zamboanga. 

Meanwhile, the CPOC has also approved another resolution that sought to deploy at least two policemen in each of the city’s 98 barangays.

A meeting will soon be conducted among the city’s security sector, barangay officials and force multipliers in a bid to strengthen efforts at preventing criminality, especially shooting incidents.-(Vic Larato)