TARLAC CITY — Tarlac Police Provincial Office is eyeing to provide aid and basic services to far-flung communities in Tarlac through their Rektang Bayanihan and Expanded Caravan programs.
In a virtual interview, Police Provincial Director Police Colonel David Nicolas Poklay stressed that aside from relief drives, he targets to partner with various government agencies to bring basic services closer to the “poorest of the poor” and families in remote areas.
“My marching order to the Police Community Relations is to identify the needs of families in mountainous areas and those with limited access to government services. This lets them feel that the government is working for them,” he noted.
According to Poklay, a total of 7,983 families in the province have already received relief goods under the Rektang Bayanihan Program with the support of the stakeholders.
Among the beneficiaries of the relief operations include the farm workers in Hacienda Luisita, locally stranded individuals in Tarlac during the community quarantine, and the Indigenous Peoples (IPs) communities.
“We traveled, walked and hiked to various IP communities in Capas, Bamban and San Clemente to personally distribute the food packs and let them know that the police personnel are their friends, and not their enemies,” he underscored.
Poklay furthered that the Tarlac police is scheduled to extend help to around 100 families in Mayantoc town in the coming weeks under the same program.