TARLAC CITY (PIA) — Police Regional Director PBGen. Rhodel Sermonia pitched for intensified community engagement to win the fight against insurgency.
Speaking to Tarlac stakeholders, Sermonia said the Joint Industrial Peace Concerns Office (JIPCO) is one of the several programs being implemented by the police in Central Luzon to deflect efforts of the communist groups in destroying the country.
“JIPCO is the first line of defense and protection of the labor force, manufacturing industries and industrial zones from the on-going massive infiltration and recovery works of the communist groups,” he explained.
Moreover, Police Regional Office 3 created a program for the youth that aims to create awareness and protect them from communism and the ill-effects of drugs.
“The Kabataan Kontra Droga at Terorismo is an anti-radical effort that focuses on insulating the Filipino youth and student sector from drugs and the deceptive ideology and recruitment of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA),” he said.
Another program is the Global Police Community Relations which intends to safeguard the welfare of Filipinos who work abroad and the family they have left behind.
In terms of environmental protection, the Kaligkasan program or Kaligtasan and Kalikasan targets to secure the tourism industry players from left-leaning environmentalists that destabilize legitimate industries.
“We have to protect the tourists and our tourism from the CPP-NPA that uses development-related issues, such as the New Clark City, against the government,” he noted.
In addressing the issues and concerns of the urban poor that are usually being used by communist front organizations, Sermonia reinvented the Pulis Natin Caravan to an Expanded Caravan involving the other agencies of the government like the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority as well as the private sector.
“This is meant to make the people feel not only the frontline services of the police but all the services coming from the government,” he stressed.
All of the anti-insurgency efforts of the police are in line with Executive Order No.70 of President Duterte otherwise known as the “whole-of-nation approach” to end local communist armed conflict.