Community cooperation key to curb COVID-19 spread – NAPOLCOM Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY (PIA), July 10 – The cooperation of the community is key to maintain peace and order as well as stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.

The National Police Commission in Bicol (NAPOLCOM-5) emphasized this as the agency together with the Philippine National Police (PNP-5) and members of its technical working group (TWG) organized for the month-long observance of the 25th Police Community Relations Month (PCRM) this July 2020.

 “The celebration aims to highlight the need for a firm and cohesive partnership between the police and the citizenry for the success of any campaign towards peace and order and national development,” said lawyer Josephmar Gil, NAPOLCOM-5 regional director.

This year’s PCRM celebration is anchored on the theme, “Pinaigting na Ugnayan ng Mamamayan at Pulisya, Laban sa COVID-19 Pandemya,” which amplifies the importance of the partnership between the police and the community.

“It shows us how this strong partnership can save us as a nation and eventually lead us to victory against this pandemic,” Gil said.

“We therefore ask everyone to continue to support our local police in its pursuit of not only maintaining peace and order and ensuring public safety but also in further helping to strengthen our local government capability through the effective delivery of basic services to our citizenry,” he added.

Moreover, the NAPOLCOM-5 appreciated the support of the community since the beginning of the pandemic to the frontliners – medical practitioners as well as the PNP.

“Personal protective equipment (PPE) and health kits were donated to our frontliners. Such genuine support had boosted the morale of our police officers to stay put and be more vigilant despite the danger brought by this pandemic,” Gil said.

This month, NAPOLCOM-5 will hold a quad media campaign, an outreach activity providing health packs to schools, webinar on community and service oriented policing, and online band showdowns dubbed as the “Himig Kasurog Laban sa COVID-19”.

The observance of PCRM in July every year was institutionalized by Presidential Proclamation No. 764 to develop closer interaction between the police and the community in handling peace and order concerns. This year’s celebration is a significant milestone as this will be our 25th year of PCRM observance. (PIA-5/DDC)