The City Council of Dumaguete, headed by Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova, is now in the process of collating suggestions from the public on how to combat criminality and improve the city’s peace and order situation.
The suggestions were raised during a peace and order forum held Friday in aid of legislation, as well as through drop boxes placed in key locations in the city, and even through anonymous letters that he received at the start of the week, said the vice mayor.
The vice mayor said he and his staff are currently drafting a matrix, putting similar or common ideas under one classification, such as suggestions on equipment and police training to be placed under the category of capacity building, and on methods and tactics to be classified under operations.
Cordova said it would take some time to do this as it requires a lot of study and coordination between the police, barangay officials and barangay tanods.
He cited a suggestion from a civilian to group barangay tanod patrols in a cluster of three or four barangays, considering that some barangays are lacking in these volunteer peacekeeping forces.
During Friday’s forum, many barangay officials admitted that they had a dwindling number of barangay tanods due to the measly honorarium allocated them as well as many of them also having day jobs.
Also, the vice mayor will be requesting the police for a crime analysis map so he can review not just the demographics but geographical factors as well for him and the city officials to understand better the prevailing crime situation in Dumaguete.
Knowing where these crimes are predominantly happening in the city would give the legislators an idea on how to really address the peace and order problem, especially the clustering of the barangay tanods, he said.
Once the matrix containing the public’s suggestions is completed, Vice Mayor Cordova said he will call for a special session with the other city councilors to discuss the next steps in curbing criminality and improving the peace and order in Dumaguete. (PNA/Judy F Partlow)