NATIONAL CAPITAL Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, on Thursday led the demolition of the Community Police Assistance (COMPAC) outpost of Police Community Precinct (PCP) 4 in Malabon City.
The police outpost is located on a sidewalk along MH Del Pilar street near corner Mejo Rada Street in Barangay Tinajeros.
Eleazar said the demolition is in line with the recent Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) memorandum ordering all local government units (LGUs) to remove all obstructions on local roads pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to reclaim public spaces in order to ease traffic congestion.
Eleazar said that violators will have “moral ascendency” to demolish obstructions reclaiming public ways because the PNP has initiated the implementation of the DILG Memorandum even removing its own police community precincts.
A total of 30 PCPs and five COMPAC are encroaching public road, sitting on sidewalks and center island but Eleazar said it cannot demolish immediately those precincts as it might affect the peace and order situation in the area.
“We cannot just remove these there because the peace and order of the community might be sacrificed. We will coordinate first with the local government units on where to relocate them we will facilitate their transfer. We cannot remove them without ensuring that they have a place to transfer. We will coordinate with the LGUs on this,” the Metro Manila top cop told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
“The PNP will provide the muscle, I am committing NCRPO to support the 17 local government executives (of Metro Manila) to effectively implement this order,” he added.
The five districts covered by the NCRPO are the Manila Police District (MPD), Quezon City Police District (QCPD), Northern Police District (NPD), Southern Police District (SPD), and Eastern Police District (EPD).
Based on the data obtained by the PNA, the MPD has the biggest number of PCPs encroaching public roads with 16 followed by QCPD and SPD with five each while NPD has 4 and EPD has no PCPs after the demolition in San Juan last Monday.
Meanwhile, the DILG urged mayors to put their foot down, impose their authority, and hold barangay captains accountable for road obstructions.
DILG Undersecretary and Spokesperson Jonathan E. Malaya said that in clearing roads of illegal structures and obstructions, mayors are expected to take the lead and ensure that barangay captains within their jurisdiction are cooperating and compliant.
“We have been deluged by complaints from the people about barangay captains who are failing to act and worse being complicit and actively tolerating road obstructions. The mayors have to make them accountable because that’s their mandate and responsibility,” he said in a statement.
“Barangay cooperation is crucial for the success of this program. And as elected leaders of their jurisdiction, the mayors must exercise their power and put their foot down to ensure that barangays will follow the directive of the President seriously,” said Malaya.
Malaya reminded mayors to exercise their authority over their barangay chairpersons, as mandated by Local Government Code.
Section 32 of the Local Government Code states that “The city or municipality, through the city or municipal Mayor concerned, shall exercise general supervision over component Barangays to ensure that said Barangays act within the scope of their prescribed powers and functions.”
He says that if need be, in cases of resistance from barangay officials, the mayors must exercise their political will and discipline these uncooperative community leaders.
According to Malaya, now that the midterm elections are over, political affiliations should no longer be an issue because “officials must only focus on their mandate of delivering the needed service to the people.”
Malaya explains that road obstructions will not happen without the knowledge of the Barangay Captain.
“As (Interior) Secretary (Eduardo) Año said, it is impossible that they do not know anything about these road obstructions. It is just proper that they rectify their actions by cooperating with the clearing operations of the local government unit,” he said.
The DILG Undersecretary also added that barangay halls on sidewalks should be self-demolished by the barangay, together with other obstructions leading to main roads and thoroughfares.
Eleazar has assured the presence of policemen would lessen tension, especially when the targets are illegal vendors and informal settlers.(By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)
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