COTABATO CITY — Police Regional Office 12 (Soccsksargen) has called on the public to report checkpoints along national highways and key access roads in the region that are poorly supervised by the police.
“We urge the public to report lousy checkpoints directly to the office of the police regional director immediately,” Supt. Aldrin Gonzales, PRO-12 spokesperson, said in a radio interview here Saturday.
Gonzales said PRO-12 Director, Chief Supt. Eliseo Tam Rasco, issued the order following reports that police. in a number of these checkpoints, are lenient and unsystematic in checking vehicles passing by their assigned areas.
He said round-the-clock checkpoints were doubled across the region following the series of bomb attacks that recently shook the towns of Isulan in Sultan Kudarat, Midsayap in North Cotabato, and General Santos City.
“We are duty-bound to do our best in protecting the public from criminal elements and terroristic attacks and checking on vehicles (in checkpoints) is one of our mandates,” he said.
Soccsksargen covers the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Sarangani, and the cities of Cotabato, Kidapawan, Koronadal, and General Santos.
Gonzales said the strict implementation of checkpoints in the region also comes in the wake of the upcoming filing of certificates of candidacy (CoCs) by political wannabes for the 2019 midterm polls.
The Commission on Elections has set the filing of COCs for the 2019 midterm elections on Oct. 11-17, excluding weekends. (Noel Punzalan/PNA)
