Partylist commits P2M for "tanod" center

CEBU, Philippines - A partylist has committed to contribute P2 million for the construction of a multi-purpose training center in Barangay Bulacao, Talisay City.

The Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS), through Rep. Samuel Pagdilao's consultant Glenn Patrick Lim, made the commitment to city administrator John Yre de los Reyes in a recent meeting.

Lim said the building of the training center will supplement and enrich the teaching of law with barangay peacekeeping officers or "barangay tanods," who have a key role to play in crime prevention.

ACT-CIS' advocacy is to empower the community in doing their part in the fight against criminality and terrorism.

As a partylist representative, Pagdilao has crafted laws that institutionalize the roles of community watchmen and upgrade their roles from being mere volunteer peacekeepers to a more organized, equipped and well-compensated government community peace and order personnel.

"The training center to be built in Bulacao has already been approved in Congress," Lim told The Freeman. The training center, Lim said, includes a fitness center for the youth and for the "tanods."

Pagdilao, a former director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, has already sponsored a bill in Congress that pushes for the legislated standardization of roles and functions of village watchmen or barangay "tanods" to give them more proactive roles and standardized incentives.

"This law will also increase the number of 'tanods' proportionate to the population so that the local government unit's response to criminality in the barangay level can be improved," Pagdilao said in his bill.

Pagdilao added that the role of barangay tanods and their potential as reliable community-based peacekeeping groups has not yet been fully realized. — Garry B. Lao

"ACT-CIS believes that peace and order and security are a shared responsibility of the community and government's law enforcement units and that everyone should act as active partners to become more effective in confronting the rising tide of criminality," he said.

In a separate interview, De los Reyes said that he will be coordinating with Bulacao barangay captain Raul Cabañero, who also sits as ex-officio in the city council, for the construction of the training center. (FREEMAN)