‘PULIS SA BARANGAY’ SENT TO WESTERN VISAYAS  TO FIGHT NPA, CRIMINALS

A TOTAL of 299 personnel from the Police Regional Office 6 under Brig. Gen. Jack L. Wanky will be deployed in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantageous Areas or GIDAS in the region to prevent the resurgence of the New People’s Army (NPA) insurgency and address criminality in both urban and rural areas.

Philippine National Police Director for Police-Community Relations Maj. Gen. Bernard M. Banac on Friday led the send-off ceremonies for members of the Revitalized-Pulis Sa Barangay or R-PSB unit of the Police Regional Office 6 who will be assigned to poor areas in Western Visayas to help fight criminals and insurgents.

The send-off was held at the PRO6 headquarters in Camp General Martin Teofilo B. Delgado in Fort San Pedro, Iloilo City.

“Dahil sa Bagong Pilipinas ang gusto ng pulis ay ligtas na mga komunidad, it is very timely as we carry our drive to achieve peace and to help in the government’s effort to better serve the communities here in Region 6,”  said Banac as he echoed the calls of Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco D. Marbil for an all-out police campaign to address criminality to spur peace and development across the country.

The PNP co-chairs the Peace and Law Enforcement and Development Support Cluster that implements the R-PSB.

The R-PSB program is part of the huge effort of the PNP leadership to sustain the gains of the Community Support Program of the AFP and the Retooled Community Support Program of local government units.

Members of the different R-PSB units of the police force are deployed in far-flung areas of the country, many of them formerly heavily-influenced by the NPA, and have been instrumental in getting back the support of the populace to the government as they help build small schools, roads, bridges, artesian projects and even homes for the homeless.

They also provide basic education to the kids and have been instrumental in helping thousands of indigenous people get their birth registration papers and other documents they need in order to avail of basic government services.