TAGBILARAN CITY — The discipline zone being implemented in Panglao Island, Bohol province is a way of maintaining peace and order in the tourism area, Bohol police director Senior Supt. Angeles Geñorga Jr. has said.
The zone is in anticipation of the influx of tourists as the new Bohol Panglao International Airport is expected to start operations by the last quarter of this year, Geñorga said during Tuesday’s Talakayan sa Isyung Pulis (TSIP) media forum at the Multi-Purpose Hall of Camp Francisco Dagohoy here.
Early estimates said about a million tourists are expected to visit Bohol within a year from the opening of the new airport.
The police, three weeks ago, implemented the discipline zone in the two towns on Panglao Island, Dauis and Panglao, where strict traffic rules and regulations have also been enforced.
In a separate forum, Supt. Lorenzo Batuan, deputy director for operations of the Bohol Police Provincial Office, earlier said the discipline zone has been patterned after the programs implemented in Subic, Zambales and Clark Field, Pampanga.
Motorcycle riders entering the discipline zone are discouraged from wearing short pants and slippers, otherwise they would be apprehended by the police.
Geñorga said the discipline zone also serves as an anti-criminality measure as it can also help maintain peace and order in the crown jewel of Bohol tourism — Panglao Island.
The Bohol police chief, however, added that it is still too early to tell whether this initiative would be able to curtail criminality in the two towns of Panglao Island.
Panglao police chief Senior Insp. Geronimo Conarco, on the other hand, said the initiative has somehow helped minimize traffic-related incidents on the island. (Dave Albarado/PNA)
