MANILA, Philippines — The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will demolish 35 more police community precincts (PCPs) and community police assistance centers (compacs) that are obstructing public roads, its director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said Friday.
Eleazar said the NCRPO aims to complete the removal of all 35 precincts and compacs within the 60-day deadline set by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). To recall, the DILG gave local government units 60 days to clearing public roads of obstructions and open these to vehicular traffic.
“Pipilitin namin na matanggal within 60 days kasi hindi maganda (We will try to remove it all within 60 days because it does not look good),” he told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.
READ: 60-day countdown for LGUs to clear public roads starts Monday – Año
In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Eleazar said 24 of the police offices are on sidewalks, six are on center islands, while five are encroaching public roads.
There were initially 37 police offices within Metro Manila that were obstructing public roads, but two of them — a PCP in San Juan City and a Compac in Malabon City — were already demolished, the NCRPO said.
Eleazar said however the NCRPO cannot just remove the precincts without ensuring relocation sites.
“We do not want to sacrifice or compromise the peace and order in the locality,” he said.
While the order of President Rodrigo Duterte is to reclaim public roads being used for private purposes, Eleazar said the NCRPO decided to also demolish its precincts and compacs that are obstructing roads to serve as an example to the public.
“Kailangan pa rin maitama. 80s pa ‘yan eh, hinayaan na. For whatever reason na andyan na yan and walang ganung katinding political will, [we still have to demolish it],” he said.
(We still have to correct it. These offices have been there since the 80s and was not flagged. For whatever reason reason that it was there and since there was no strong political will in the past, [we still have to demolish it].)
Should barangay (village) chairpersons find precincts and compacs in their respective areas obstructing roads, Eleazar said they may initiate the demolition of these police offices but should make sure that relocation sites are available. /muf