• RICHARD T. CABALLERO JR.
To ensure the safety and security of students across the region, the Police Regional Office Negros Island Region directed all the Women’s and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) units to coordinate with educational institutions, according to Regional Director PBrig. Gen. Arnold Thomas Ibay.
The initiative aims to provide guidance and teach students how to properly coordinate with the authorities, and to encourage them to communicate or report any danger that they experience inside and outside the school premises.
“So that we can provide guidance and teach them proper coordination with the police, because sometimes they don’t know how to approach authorities, even if they are experiencing bullying,” Ibay emphasized.
The effort is in relation to viral videos of criminality and bullying between students, inside and outside school campuses.
Meanwhile, Ibay also urged the public to verify the information or videos they are sharing online to mitigate the situation. He stressed that as they investigated some of the viral videos through their cybercrime unit, they determined that not all happened within the NIR.
However, he assured the parents and the students that they are currently coordinating with school administrators and heads to monitor any forms of danger that the students can possibly experience.
Moreover, the regional office is confident that police are deployed in various areas, including schools, after surprise visitations conducted by Ibay to various police stations across the region.
Ibay remarked that he was satisfied to see that there were only a few police remaining inside the police stations when he arrived. According to him, the fewer the police inside the station, the better because it means that personnel are conducting safety and security measures on the ground.
“The beauty of this program (5-minute response) by the PNP is that it assures the public that the personnel are already on the ground when they need help,” he added.
Furthermore, he also stressed that the government has been providing the police with equipment necessary for the 5-minute response, and for the regional office to monitor the activities of the personnel on the ground.*
