Municipal mayors seek to regain control over police

The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) is pressing for the control and supervision over police units to allow mayors to directly address peace and order problems in their respective localities.

Return of police power to the local government units (LGUs) is among the major issues being tackled during the three-day 11th LMP General Assembly, which began yesterday at the Manila Midtown Hotel.

In his welcome address, LMP national president Mayor Ramon Guico Jr. of Binalonan, Pangasinan said peace and order problems continue to hound local governments.

Since the return of police powers to LGUs would contravene the provisions of the Constitution, the 1,495-strong LMP is proposing the setting up of a two-level police force — one national and one local.

"Maintaining peace and order will be the concern of local police placed directly under the operational control and supervision of the mayors while the national police will be addressing problems related to transborder crimes like kidnapping, illegal gambling, bank robberies and terrorism," Guico explained.

The mayors will also seek to craft an action agenda to generate local employment, increase tax collection and ensure food security.

Guico said that the assembly of municipal mayors comes at a time when the national government is preparing a similar action agenda in response to the looming social and economic challenges caused by a global economic slowdown following terrorist attacks in the US.

He said municipal mayors are upbeat in their role to support the Arroyo administration’s war against poverty and smother the threats of criminal elements trying to destabilize the country, impacting on tourism and trade investments.

The municipal mayors are pressing for the automatic appropriations of their Internal Revenue Allotment which they argued should not be subjected to debate and deduction by the Congress just like the foreign debt as mandated in the Constitution. They are also lobbying for an increase in their IRA shares.

They will also pursue efforts to implement immediately the delineation of municipal and seek a grater stake in the utilization of Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds as well as other foreign grants like the financial package of $4.6 billion forged by the President during her visit to the United States.

During the assembly, Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor is expected to introduce the agriculture and fishery modernization initiatives of his office and the recent cost-sharing agreement with municipal mayors on the construction of communal irrigation systems, solar dryers and the establishment of agri-aqua projects.

Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez is also scheduled to launch a comprehensive guidebook series on coastal resource management, a collaborative effort with the Coastal Resource Management Project and the LMP to preserve, protect, conserve and utilize the marine resources.

Representatives from other foreign donors and national government agencies will be on hand during the discussions, including Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina, who will deliver his state of local governance address to set the tone for the crafting of an action agenda.

President Arroyo will be guest of honor and speaker during the conclusion of the three-day convention tomorrow, during which the municipal mayors will sign their covenant of commitment along with their partners from the national government agencies before the Chief Executive.

Speaker Jose de Venecia, Senators Loren Legarda and Robert Jaworski and Congressman Exequiel B. Javier of Antique are among the special dignitaries that have been invited to deliver their messages. The international community will be led by US Charge d’ Affaires Robert W. Fittz and a delegation of African officials from Malawi.