The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Police Regional Office in Region 11 (PRO-11) do not see the need to revive the “Alsa Masa”--a movement formed to counter the New People’s Army’s (NPA) hit squads in Davao Region in the 1980s.
Lt. General Benjamin Madrigal, Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) commander, said the current situation is different from the early 80s when NPA hit squads waged a bloody campaign to purge its members and engaged in the killing of law enforcers.
Madrigal brushed aside speculations that the Community Mobilization Project (CMP) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is a revival of the "Alsa Masa".
He said that under the program, the community is organized not only for security reasons but to address community issues.
Madrigal said various communities in the region, specially in Compostela Valley province, have even organized themselves voluntarily to improve peace and order in their areas.
“Hindi katulad noon na (unlike before when) everybody is holding a gun. Now, only those people who are authorized can carry a gun,” Madrigal said. “It’s a non-violent Alsa Masa.”
Police Superintendent Nolasco Bathan, PRO-11 deputy director, said the "Alsa Masa" in Davao may be successful in the past but the PNP’s CMP has a different concept.
Bathan, who has served the Calabarzon area before his Davao assignment, said CMP is a mobilization of a group formed in the community. The CMP has been implemented in Calabarzon for years now as a police and community partnership, he said.
Community members, he said, craft their own program, and monitor or report to authorities those who are involved in criminality or the illicit drug trade.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1054657
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.