ILOILO CITY — The series of surprise inspections conducted by the National Police Commission in Western Visayas (Napolcom-6) have prompted all municipal police stations in the region to be “awake”, said Regional Director Joseph Celis.
Celis, in an interview on Wednesday afternoon, said the surprise visits were to remind the policemen to stick to their duty.
Although he did not mention how many of the police stations he had visited, the surprise inspections were triggered by his visit to police stations in Ajuy and in Barotac Nuevo, both in Iloilo province.
Barotac Nuevo police station, visited last May 23, was left unmanned while a lone desk officer was present at Ajuy police station when it was visited on May 24.
“The commitment as a police officer is no joke, it is a serious commitment. It is a matter of culturing on my part and leadership that we have to be strict so that we will be at par with other Southeast Asian nations in terms of policing,” he said.
“That aspect of leadership and concern will be of course contaminating to other agencies who are lax, who are lazy and indolent in public service,” he added.
He also mentioned finding a police officer in a station in Concepcion town wearing only slippers while on duty.
Celis said that he already delegated the cases of the three police stations to Senior Supt. Marlon Tayaba, provincial director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office, for necessary action.
“If not, it will take years for them to have a pending case before Napolcom,” he said.
He added that his role is to help the public be assured of quality service. (Cindy Ferrer/PNA)
