INVALUABLE.
This was how the Cebu City Police Office (CPPO) described the role of members of the Defense and Police Press Corp. (DEPP) yesterday morning in a recognition rite at the police headquarters on Gorordo Avenue.
Senior Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, CCPO head, commended the reporters from different newspapers and broadcast stations who participated in the April 30 Police-Media Interaction Day (Police-MIND).
The Police-MIND program was the first time reporters covering the police beat were given a chance to spend a day as police chiefs and station commanders.
The project aimed to encourage transparency in police operations, let the media know the policemen better and promote harmonious relations between the police and media.
During the one-day activity, reporters witnessed the seizure of four video carreras and moli-moli machines and the arrest of at least 20 persons for alleged involvement in illegal activities.
The activity “shows that we are transparent,” said Senior Supt. Louie Oppus, deputy director for operations of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas.
He said the Police-MIND helped the media “know what the police is facing day in and day out.”
Oppus encouraged other police offices to replicate the program./REPORTER RHEA RUTH V. ROSELL