Police Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), wants all policemen to actively engage all barangay officials in strengthening the peace and order down at the community level.
Azurin said the engagement will include planning and implementation of peace and order strategies as he explained that barangay officials are in the better position to determine the courses of action that are appropriate for their respective constituents.
“Basically, our focus is always on crime prevention and the crime solution so we need to organize the community and mobilize them so that we can work together to ensure the peace and order in our country,” said Azurin.
As barangay officials, Azurin explained that they have wide information networks who among their constituents are involved in illegal activities, as well as every person that enters or lives in their respective areas.
He said barangay officials, being the frontliners of government services, are also aware of the prevalent criminal activities in their respective areas.
And since policemen specifically know their job description and goals, Azurin said that what they want to establish is a good working relationship, or synergy in maintaining peace and order especially that barangay are the basic political unit in the country, with the barangay captain serving as the chief executive whose jobs include peace and order and development.
Aside from barangay officials, Azurin said the strengthening of good working relationships should also be expanded to include other sectors of the society that include the religious sectors and the academe.
“We really need to build relationships with all sectors in the community. So for the policemen on the ground, they need to engage and ask the barangay leaders as to what direction they are pursuing towards genuine peace and development,” said Azurin.
“Policemen know their job and what we want is for the police, the barangay officials and other stakeholders to work together as far as the progress and development is concerned,” he added.
While the active involvement of barangay officials has been the focus of police-community relations over the years, Azurin said the missing part appears to be the trust and confidence of the barangay officials and other stakeholders to their police.
“We need to build a good relationship with the community for them to trust the police,” said Azurin.
“Of course, this appears to be a difficult task but we will attempt because when I was the Regional Director of Region 1, I really went down to the barangay level asking the help,” he stressed.
And the measures he initiated in the Ilocos Region, according to Azurin, are what he wants all police commanders to replicate across the country.