BACOLOD CITY – Policemen in Negros Occidental have gone the extra mile to provide not just security for Negrenses but also a decent home for the homeless, considering the risk brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic.
Personnel of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) – 6 and Kabankalan City Police Station have initiated a project dubbed "Balay Mo, Handom Ko” (Your House, Our Goal).
This was in line with the Bayanihan project of Police Regional Office (PRO)-Western Visayas dubbed “Kapwa Ko, Sagot Ko.”
Lt. Col. Mary Rose Pico, city police chief, said the "Balay Mo, Handom Ko” project was their own initiative to provide comfort to a family, who cannot have a decent home to live, amid the threat of the pandemic.
During their visits in some villages in the city last week, Pico said they met Sherly Villarin of Barangay Tagukon, a widow with five children, whose only source of living was farming.
Pico said Villarin’s eldest child was a special child and her youngest was just seven years old. Another got married at an early age.
They all live in a house made of light materials and situated on a hill, Pico said.
When the police visited Villarin’s house, Pico said they needed to crawl through the door to enter the home, and the family also didn’t have a decent room, a kitchen, or even a toilet.
That was when Pico and her personnel decided to help the Villarins.
She said personnel at the police station, and other private stakeholders contributed construction materials, while the RMFB-6 did the carpentry and provided them security during the construction of the house since the area was identified to be rebel-infested.
“It took us more than a week to build the house,” she said.
The house was partially made of cement and light materials, with a bedroom, toilet, dining area, and kitchen,” she said.
She said Villarin was emotional when they turned over the house to her last Wednesday.
“She was very happy that she even cried, as she didn’t expect to have such a house even in her dreams,” the police chief added.
Pico said it was the first house they built for a chosen beneficiary, and said she was looking forward to provide the same assistance to other beneficiaries.
“It was not that elegant, it was just simple, but it was decent enough for them to be comfortable and be protected,” she said.
Villarin’s children were also taught about the significant role of policemen in the community to allay their fears of the police.