By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Batac City—In time for the general elections in May, a new officer-in-charge was named for this city’s police force.
Police Supt. Virgilio Pascua Jr. assumed the OIC post on January 28, 2016. Prior to his assignment here, Mr. Pascua served in Abra province for three years, and was posted in Mindanao for 12 years.
Elections preparation
IMMEDIATELY buckling down to work, Mr. Pascua personally visited the Batac election officer Josephine Pascua to coordinate preparations for the upcoming elections.
The police OIC stressed the need for a peaceful and orderly conduct of election this coming May. He said one of the steps he is planning is to post police officers on all polling precincts here.
Mr. Pascua disclosed that as of now, Batac is peaceful but he has yet to observe the situation during election season.
The Batac police and election office also plan to hold a “Unity Walk” to be participated in by government officials and election candidates.
New building
A new building for the Batac police is also forthcoming.
Mr. Pascua announced that the Batac government, headed by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta and Philippine National Police acting regional director P/Chief Supt. Ericson Velasquez signed a memorandum of agreement for a Deed of Donation lately.
Mr. Pascua said that the city’s counterpart will be the donation of the lot plus additional funding for the construction of the three-storey building. The rest of the funding will come from the PNP regional office.
The new building will still be located at the existing police building just beside the Batac public market. It will have an approximate area of 1,000 square meters.
Mr. Pascua hopes that the construction will start soon upon release of the budget and the release of the land title.
Visit to barangays
Mr. Pascua also announced that he will visit all barangays regularly for a continuous dialogue with the barangay officials and tanods, with respect to the peace and order situation.
Relative to this, he also asked the cooperation of the public to help in the security in the city as the police cannot patrol the entire city at a one given time.
As the Batac police also lacks the needed personnel, the OIC said he introduced a new innovation wherein there will be two shifts for patrol officers daily.
He also scheduled a dialogue with tricycle associations in the city.
Election officer hopes for peaceful election
Meanwhile, Ms. Balbas is hopeful that election here will again be peaceful and orderly similar to the 2013 elections. In 2013, both the incumbent mayor and vice mayor ran unopposed.
For this elections however, two candidates are vying for the city’s top post. A single candidate is running for vice mayor.
Ms. Balbas also stressed that her office’s only concern for now are the tarpaulins that are scattered around the city. She said she has since asked the police to assist them in implementing “Oplan Baklas”, a process where they take down election materials posted in illegal areas.
In Batac, the approved common poster areas are the area in front of the Ricarte Park facing Washington St.; the front of the public market; the vacant lot in front of the Batac Cockpit along the national highway; the “Bagsakan” area along the national highway; barangay halls and multi-purpose halls in every barangay; and waiting sheds along the highways.
In addition to this, they also plan to hold a “Peace Covenant”.