| PNP:
Awards Taguig City Government And Mayor Lani Cayetano
With "The Best among the Best Practices Program" Award
August
3, 2011
The
City Government of Taguig under the stewardship of
Mayor Lani Cayetano has proven to be a worthy and
active partner of the Philippine National Police (PNP)
in the fight against crime and lawless elements.
Last
Friday, 29 July 2011, the efforts of Mayor Cayetano
were recognized by the PNP as she was given the Special
Award for Local Chief Executive in connection with
the "Best Among the Best Practices" program during
the observance of the 16th Police Community Relations
Month.
NCRPO
director Police Chief Supt. Alan Purisima handed the
special award to the young and dynamic mayor during
a simple ceremony. In particular, the award extolled
Mayor Cayetano "for her relentless efforts in helping
the local police fight criminality in Taguig."
"One
of the Cayetano administration's top priorities has
been to maintain peace and order by boosting the crime-fighting
ability of our police officers. As we all know, commerce
and progress naturally follow in the footsteps of
peace and order," said lawyer Darwin Icay, the mayor's
spokesperson.
With
this maxim, the city government started out the year
by donating 13 brand new Isuzu pickups to the Taguig
City Police Station under its chief, Senior Supt.
Tomas Apolinario Jr.
The
purchase of the Pnp Patrol Vehicle was prioritized
despite the grave shortage of vehicles by the City
government. The former Mayor Freddie Tinga gave away
almost 300 city vehicles right before Mayor Lani Cayetano
took office. Instead of purchasing vehicles for the
City Officials Mayor Cayetano decided to prioritize
emergency vehicles and PNP Patrol vehicles. She appealed
to City Officials to sacrifice and to first ensure
the safety of Taguig Residents by prioritizing the
PNP.
Given
last 24 January 2011, the pickups would function as
mobile patrol vehicles which the police can use in
their response, surveillance and monitoring duties.
Undoubtedly, this was a major boon to the PNP since
there are 350 cops detailed in Taguig, a bustling,
multi-cultural city of more than 720,000 people.
Mayor
Lani has also extended support to other police units
in her jurisdiction, particularly the Southern Police
District (SPD) in Fort Bonifacio and the National
Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in Camp Bagong
Diwa, Bicutan.
It
can be recalled that the 29-year-old local chief executive
helped jumpstart the SPD's cooperative by offering
them an initial fund of P500,000. According to Ate
Lani, a cooperative would be able to provide timely
financial assistance to police officers, thus Mayor
Cayetano has also promised before NCRPO personnel
to "push for the creation of modern buildings, additional
facilities and benefits to raise the morale of our
policemen."
Meanwhile,
the Cayetano administration launched a conscious effort
to erase the image of Taguig city as a "hot spot"
of illegal drugs during the time of ex-mayor Freddie
Tinga.
This
was achieved by an all out war against drug pushers
and illegal gambling together with the reconstitution
of the Taguig Anti-Drug Abuse Council (TADAC) via
Executive Order No. 2010-09, which Mayor Lani signed.
As chairperson of the Council's executive committee,
the Mayor alloted P3,500,000 for Tadac and Has been
coordinating and supporting Pdea's operations in the
City.
Under
the same directive, the city government of Taguig
also set aside P10,000,000 for the construction of
a rehabilitation center for drug dependents and another
P5,000,000 for a juvenile jail which would serve youths
who are in conflict with the law.
"Executive
Order No. 2010-09 is intended to ensure a comprehensive,
integrated, people powered and preventive approach
in fighting drug abuse problems and cooperatively
work in planning on drug control in the city," pointed
out Icay, who is a former Taguig councilor.
To
help in the police's efforts, the mayor initiated
the special training of Barangay Security Force (BSF)
members in all of Taguig's 28 barangays so they may
also conduct surveillance, apprehend criminals and
secure their respective communities from threats.
She said the BSF will work hand-in-hand with cops
in its operations, serving as their partners.
As
part of its peace and order campaign, Mayor Lani effected
the installation of road lights along the entire 7.2
km stretch of C-6 Road. The length of C-6 covers 10
barangays: San Miguel, Sta. Ana, Calsada, Napindan,
Bambang, Hagonoy, Ibayo Tipas, Palingon, Wawa and
New Lower Bicutan.
In
order to preserve the road lights as well as the security
of residents, the local government has ordered the
deployment of Public Order and Safety Office (POSO)
and Traffic Management Office (TMO) members along
C-6. It has also solicited the help of barangay captains
in the area.
According
to Police Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos, NCRPO spokesperson,
Mayor Cayetano bested three other nominees for the
special award.
"Her
name was recommended by the Southern Police District
(SPD). Out of the four nominees, the selection board
deemed that Mayor Lani's contributions to local police
were a cut above the rest," explained Carlos.
Spurred
by the recognition, Mayor Cayetano said that she would
continue to throw her full support to the Taguig police
station, SPD, NCRPO and the other police units within
the city.
"Rest
assured that Mayor Cayetano will plan and implement
more projects with the purpose of assisting the men
and women in uniform," Icay concluded. |