CEBU, Philippines - At least three Cebu City police station commanders will be relieved from their post starting today, the Cebu City Police Office director said.
Sr. Supt. Noli Romana said that this has nothing to do with the series of incidents that had happened in the city within the year.
He said that his decision was already made way before the Sinulog but he just gave these station commanders a time to perform well. But since he is not satisfied with their performance, he said he is pushing through with the reshuffling.
He said that three to four station commanders might be affected and some of them will be assigned to special units.
“Titingnan natin kasi baka mas effective sila sa ibang units,†he said.
He said they are looking at the individual station commander’s performance and not at a specific incident only.
He dismissed the idea that the series of shootings and robbery incidents led to his decision.
“Last year na observation pa ito, binigyan ko sila ng sufficient time, ito ay based sa over-all performance ng COP,†Romana said.
Romana had already informed Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama who then gave his go signal.
Amid the series of shooting and robbery incidents in the city, Romana wanted volunteers for the city police’s crime prevention program.
He said that these volunteers, who are willing to give some of their time to fulfill their civic responsibility of guarding the community, will be in tandem with the police in conducting patrols.
As of now, Romana said there are already five volunteers per police station with a total of 55 volunteers in the city.
He clarified that these volunteers are not to be mistaken for Barangay Tanods. Volunteers are civilians who want to render their services for free in the fight against crimes unlike tanods who are hired by the barangays to help maintain peace and order.
He said that if these volunteers have gun license, they will be allowed to carry guns while they perform their civic responsibility.— /GMR (FREEMAN)