The Philippine National Police in Negros Oriental and the Diocese of Dumaguete have agreed to work hand in hand to address social issues and other concerns in the community, especially on peace and order.
PNP acting provincial director Sr. Supt. Edwin Portento disclosed Wednesday during a forum that this was what he and Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes had discussed during his courtesy call on the prelate Monday afternoon.
According to Sr. Supt. Portento, the Catholic Church leader had assured him of the diocese’s support and cooperation in future projects and programs that would complement the PNP’s efforts to address and bring down the occurrence of crime in Dumaguete City and other parts of the Province.
Portento disclosed that there are programs already lined up for implementation but he reiterated a previous statement that the focus of his leadership would still be on the war on drugs, terrorism, insurgency and criminality.
During the courtesy call, Sr. Supt. Portento briefed Bishop Cortes on the crime statistics in the province and highlighting the need to get the support of the Church and other sectors in the community in solving crimes.
For his part, Bishop Cortes expressed optimism that the new provincial police director will be able to deliver what is expected of him, describing the latter as having an “intelligent way, a method or science of approaching his work” especially to the occurrence of criminality.
The prelate also expressed concern over the disclosure of the provincial police director of a rising number of cases on cyber pornography, especially involving young children in Dumaguete.
Cases of violence against women and children, trafficking and similarly-natured incidents are now becoming prevalent here, Portento had told the bishop.
The bishop said he was surprised to learn from Portento who disclosed that Dumaguete is not too far away from Cordova in Cebu where human trafficking/cyber pornography is rampant.
Cortes is looking forward to sitting down with Portento soon once data is available so the Church can find ways to help the police address this problem.
Meanwhile, by the end of this month, the Negros Oriental PNP Provincial Office will be returning to its previous “mother unit”, the PNP Regional Office 7 in Cebu, following the dissolution of the Negros Island Region.
“We will be adopting A-B-C-D, the motto of incoming PNP Regl. Director, Police Chief Supt. Espino”, he disclosed.
A-B-C-D means Always Busy catching Criminals and Drug offenders. (With a report from Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
