More police stations eyed in QC

To boost police response against criminality, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has drafted plans for the construction of more police stations in the major thoroughfares of his city.

Belmonte made the revelation during the inauguration rites of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) satellite office on EDSA in Kamuning, Cubao the other day.

Belmonte, among the guests of honor during the inauguration of the satellite office coinciding with the 54th birthday of Metro police chief Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco heaped praises on what the NCRPO has accomplished in waging the continuing war against criminality. He also cited the innovative programs initiated by the Metro police force for a pro-active approach to law enforcement, including the Police Express, Magic Eye Txt Patrol 2910 as well as Pulis Magalang, Malinis and Mabilis program.

He said that the NCRPO is on the right track in carrying out the directive of President Arroyo in the all-out campaign against criminality as evidenced by the reduction on incidents of street crimes as well as the activities of organized crime syndicates in the metropolis.

"There is enhanced and much improved overall peace and order situation in Metro Manila and we are fortunate to have General Velasco for his executive leadership and management capabilities, who encourages strong partnership among the police, local chief executives and the private sector in the metropolis," Belmonte said adding that aside from the new police building in Kamuning, his administration is fully supportive of the NCRPO’s Central Police District Office (CPDO) with the recent allocation of P50-million fund for police equipment and anti-terrorism gadgets.

The local chief executive lauded Velasco’s Pulis Malinis program under which the rehabilitation of the CPDO Kamuning Police Station 10 was undertaken.

"A dignified workplace will naturally make its employees live up to its respectability and dignity, so with our police officers. Providing our cops with a decent-looking station will help them regain the respect of the people and, in turn, foster their respect for the citizens they serve," Belmonte said.

Patterned after the New York Police Department (NYPD), the newly inaugurated NCRPO satellite office, strategically-placed at the center of Metro Manila, promises to hasten and systematize police action against crime in the metropolis.

Sans the high-tech equipment of the NYPD, the NCRPO aims to duplicate the effectiveness of the crime-fighting capabilities of one of the United States’ premier police forces with police officers dedicated to their sworn duty to serve and protect.

"The building stands as a model of what a modern police station should be in a highly-congested urban center," Velasco said, pointing out that the site of the building along EDSA near the corner of Kamuning Road in Quezon City has been carefully chosen to serve as the nerve center of police operations in the capital region.

He said that the police station is proof of the close partnership hammered out between the NCRPO and local government units as well as the private sector in the metropolis, with the construction and rehabilitation funded by Belmonte and counterpart funds from the Philippine National Police (PNP).