A P247-million development that will include a medical facility and condominium-style housing for police personnel will soon transform Camp Panopio, Quezon City.
The city government and the Philippine National Police on Friday formally entered into an agreement to improve the PNP property on P. Tuazon Boulevard, which currently hosts Station 7 of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the homes of about 120 families.
Funds for the construction will be drawn from the PNP budget, according to the QCPD director, Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar.
“We have to develop our facilities because of the increasing number of police. The population is growing and the government follows a police-to-citizen ratio,” according to Edgardo Madamba, director of the Housing and Community Development and Resettlement Department of Quezon City.
Friday’s agreement also covers the removal of informal settlers from the camp after the conduct of a census. The clearing operation and relocation of the affected families are to be monitored by the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor and the Commission on Human Rights, among other agencies.
The Barrio Panopio Compound Neighborhood Association Inc. had accepted the terms of the agreement, Madamba said.
The development plan for the 1.8-hectare camp includes the setup of a medical facility, an administrative office, a chapel, a covered basketball court, and other recreational facilities.
Phase 2 of the plan envisions a P136-million condominium project for police officers, quarters for doctors and nurses, and multilevel parking spaces.—NIKKA G. VALENZUELA