P20-M PNP hostel to rise in N. Ecija

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines - – A three-story, P20-million hostel will be built inside the provincial police camp here.

Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali said the facility, which will serve as the police officers’ “home away from home,” will be finished in six months. It will be funded out of the provincial government’s realigned intelligence funds.

Umali led the groundbreaking rites for the building along with Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan  Purisima, National Police Commission vice chairman Eduardo Escueta and Commissioners Alejandro Urro and Luisito Palmera and provincial police director Senior Superintendent Crizaldo Nieves on Monday.

He said the facility will house a conference hall in the ground floor, 10 mini-suites in the second floor and four suites in the third floor.

Nieves said that the facility is something the local police can be proud of, as he lauded the Umali administration for being very supportive of the local police.

Umali, who is chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, said that his administration has been extending full support to the local police because it was instrumental in changing the image of the province from a political war zone into a zone of peace, referring to the spate of politically motivated killings .

“Before, Nueva Ecija’s history was written in violence. I have to rewrite it and I can only do that if I have the support of the police,” he said in his speech.