CEBU, May 1 (PIA) -- Apart from strictly enforcing quarantine protocols in security checkpoints to ensure people stay at home to prevent the spread of the contagion, cops in Central Visayas also show their soft side by distributing relief goods to poor families in their respective areas of assignment.
Police personnel, including non-uniformed ones, from the different police stations, police offices, and units as well as the Regional Mobile Force Battalion are shelling out personal money to buy basic necessities for the poor families in their assigned areas.
“Around 11,000 poor families throughout the region have received goods that consisted of five kilos rice and canned goods,” said Police Supt. Maria Aurora Rayos, regional information officer of the Police Regional Office (PRO-7).
Rayos said the Philippine National Police (PNP) has initiated a program called “Kapwa Ko, Sagot Ko” Adopt a Family Program, where the different police stations, offices and units are urged to help poor families in their areas.
“The priority families are those who were not included in the list of beneficiaries to receive government assistance or those that have not yet been given any form of aid,” said Rayos.
Rayos said the PNP leadership has acknowledged that the means to earn money have been disrupted due to the lockdown, and undertaking the program is the PNP’s small contribution to ease the burden of poor families.
Talisay City Police Office Chief Police Major Gerard Ace Pelare in Cebu province on the other hand, said that in his area, “police personnel donated between P400 to P500 and even our non-uniformed personnel give at the least P200 for us to buy basic goods and distribute these to the poor families.”
Pelare cited another significant undertaking of the PNP which is the P200 Million Challenge, where police officials and personnel to include their stakeholders, will raise P200 million to be given to the National Government as the PNP’s contribution to augment the budget of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP).
The SAP, spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, is a government cash assistance program given to the poorest of the poor families, with the amount varying per region based on the daily minimum wage.
“We have given close to P10 million from Central Visayas,” said Pelare.
Pelare said both the “Kapwa Ko, Sagot Ko” Adopt a Family Program and the P200 Million Challenge are the PNP’s way of returning back the favor by giving financial support to the National Government after substantially increasing the base pay of the police force.
Some police officials at the PRO-7 have donated half of their salary to raise a considerable amount for the P200 Million Challenge.
Dubbing themselves as “Amigo Cops,” Pelare assured the public that “our hearts will always be there for you in the fight against this pandemic and we assure you that we have not also forgotten our core function of maintaining peace and order in the community.” (fcr/PIA7)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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