Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos —Senate PRIB
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday said almost 90 percent of all local governments nationwide have functional local peace and order councils (POCs) that can help curb criminality.
According to the DILG, 1,477 out of the 1,715 local governments in the country, or 88.24 percent, have passed the 2021 audit of municipal, city, provincial and regional POCs, which are doing their share in carrying out peace and order initiatives at the local level.
“Peace and order remain to be a critical contributor to a progressive economy. We recognize the efforts of these 1,477 local governments to continuously deliver good performance in promoting programs and policies aimed at intensifying peace and order in their respective jurisdictions and protecting citizens from the bad elements of our society,” Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said in a statement on Friday.
“The Marcos administration is relentless in its pursuit of reducing criminality and sustaining peaceful, orderly and safe communities. One way to help reach this vision is to ensure that POCs at the local level are operating and functioning efficiently,” he added.
“POCs have played an integral role in the government’s campaign to go grassroots in fighting criminality, illegal drugs, insurgency and violent extremism,” he said.