19 Negros Oriental stations to get patrol jeeps

CEBU, Philippines - The Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office has confirmed the allotment of one Mahindra patrol jeeps for each of the 19 police stations in the province, the scheduled release of which is in or before October this year.

Provincial director Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos disclosed that aside from the light patrol jeeps for the police stations, the Provincial Public Safety Company based in Camp Francisco Fernandez in Barangay Agan-an, Sibulan town is also expected to receive a brand new multi-role 4x4 Kia Jeep which is worth P1.8 million each, with 18 seats that can be used to deploy PNP personnel to hard-to-reach areas in the province.

It can also be used in civic actions, relief operations, internal security operations, among others.

The Kia patrol is part of the total of 210 units acquired by the police for distribution all over the country.

Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas announced in Dumaguete last week that it will not be long that all the police stations nationwide will be provided with one brand new Bolero/Enforcer model of Mahindra patrol jeeps each to bolster the campaign against all forms of criminality and even in disaster relief operations.

However, Dumaguete City Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria is complaining why cities are not included in the distribution when the bulk of the peace and order concerns are in the city, like Dumaguete with 300,000 to 400,000 population during day time.

The mayor admitted the city is in dire need of additional vehicles for the police to patrol the streets being the center of commerce in this part of the country.

At present, the Dumaguete Police Station only has one PNP-issued police vehicle while the rest are donations from the city, including the 10 motorcycle units. — Juancho R. Gallarde (FREEMAN)