New NCRPO Chief believes in pounding the beat

MANILA, Philippines – The new Regional Director Chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) believes in walking the beat, and Chief Superintendent Alan Purisima did just that Friday by inspecting on foot the various terminals around the Metropolis.

With a few staff trailing him, and trying mightily to catch up, Purisima hotfooted it through several transport terminals to personally check on the security measures in Metro Manila, starting with the bustling Shaw Boulevard Station of the Manila Metro Rail Transit System in Mandaluyong City.

The NCRPO chief hopped aboard the MRT towards Araneta Cubao Station, and then got off along with hundreds of commuters to inspect security measures in place at the nearby Cubao Station of the Light Rail Transit System.
Purisima then marched off to the Araneta Bus Terminal, and inspected police deployment procedures in the area, and poked his head into the doors of buses that were about to pull out for various provincial destinations.

Taking note of the dimly lit LRT Terminal in Monumento, Caloocan City, the peripatetic Police Chief vowed to have a word with LRT authorities to have better lighting fixtures in the terminal “to discourage bad guys from mischief.”

Purisima’s next stop was Pier 15 in Manila, where he buttonholed port security authorities and beat cops alike, advising them constantly to be on alert for possible “sympathy attacks” by local terrorists gunning for revenge for Osama bin Laden’s recent demise.

Purisima later revealed that officers of the NCRPO’s District Offices and the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) will be deployed at vital installations and other areas where the public frequents, to head off criminal activity.

Purisima took over the NCRPO Monday. He replaced former NCRPO chief Director Nicanor Bartolome, who was recently tapped to Acting Chief of Directorial Staff, fourth in command of the PNP Command Group.