City police building a fire hazard

CEBU, Philippines - A dilapidated building of the Cebu City Police Office is a fire hazard, said Alvin Santillana, operations chief of Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.

Santillana and his team, as advised by City Councilor David Tumulak, conducted an ocular inspection yesterday morning at CCPO to check what areas need to be improved.

The dilapidated building houses the Homicide Section, Crime Scene Investigation Unit, Warrant and Subpoena Section, and Finance Section.

Santillana said that for the meantime while the construction phase has not started yet, they re-commended to the police personnel to have fire extinguishers for emergency cases.

“We can still use the structure pa man g’yud but some preventive measures and response capabilities atong i-adopt ani just in case naa’y mahitabo,” he said.

With a budget of P50 million, the construction of a new office building for CCPO is targeted to start within the year.

Santillana said that CCPO at Camp Sotero Cabahug, along Gorordo Avenue, will be deve-loped into a standard police camp.

“What’s the use of calling this as a camp but ang development niya is not a developed camp. CCPO deserves a new building, a good office,” he stated.

Mobile Patrol Group chief, Superintendent Artemio Ricabo, said there is an urgent need to build a new office building since the existing center building and the dilapidated building were built a long time ago.

“Century-old na kana nga center building while kani diri amo, during Philippine Constabulary pa nga time. Armed Forces pa na siya. Kun imong sudlon, mag-uyog-uyog na,” he said.

Ricabo said they have agreed to create the camp development plan before the construction starts.

The plan, he said, will consist of the specifications of the building.

He also said that the existing center building will not yet be removed while the construction will be ongoing.

The central portion of the lot will be utilized as a physical fitness area and a venue for parade among the police force.

“We need to make an existing plan na gyud in such a way atoang mga offices naa sa kilid,” Santillana said.

Santillana said that among the requirements for climate change adaptation is the usage of land as seepage when there is rainwater to prevent flooding in the area.  

“In this area, tubig di motuhop because daghan na tang atop, daghan nang karsada. If we will develop the area as what we have planned, seepage of water will come in, thereby reducing the risk of flood,” he said.

Now that the Cebu City Council had approved the 2015 budget at P13.4 billion last December, Santillana said they could start the construction of the new building the soonest possible time after they acquire the do-cuments of the original lot layout from the General Services Office.

“Kailangan gyud ni siya og dali-dali. ASAP ni ang pag-ari namo, ASAP pud ang engineering maghimo sa plan,” he said.

Santillana said they expect the groundbreaking ceremonies to commence anytime within this year. He said they intend to renovate the firing range as the first phase of the construction.

“Among giuna ari diri kay mao among nakita na kailangan na gyud. What’s the use of policemen if they cannot hit the target,” he said.

According to him, the construction of the new CCPO building will help improve the proficiency of policemen and help them to become more efficient in their jobs. (FREEMAN)