Mindanaotoday.com | Oro cops get brand new patrol cars from city gov’t; Mayor Klarex personally donates motorbikes
By: Bobby Lagsa
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, got their brand new 10 Toyota Fortuner vehicles, one for each of the city’s police stations.
The city government funded and acquired the 10 brand new police vehicles while Mayor Rolando Uy donated another eight 300cc Yamaha MT 03 motorcycles with funds coming from his own money.
Uy said that the turnover of the new police vehicles is in line with his promise campaign promise in putting peace and order on his agenda for the city.
The mayor also said that he will restore the Operation Kahusay og Kalinaw/OKK (Operation Peace and Order) Center.
From the ‘70s to the ‘90s, OKK was once the city’s police operations hub, strategically located at the Plaza Divisoria.
Uy said that he directed Cocpo to be more visible and responsive to the needs of the city residents.
He added that he is motivated to help the police force because his family went through the tragic murder of his son Roland Sherwin Uy and his 73-year-old aide Samuel Pabalan on November 11, 2021, in their family quarry site in Barangay Pagatpat.
“We are continuously working hard all the time for peace and order in our city. This is why these vehicles are given to our police force because we asked them in keeping our peace and order, and there are no reasons why they will not respond,” Uy said.
He added that it is vital for the city government to capacitate the police force and equip them with vehicles they can use to respond.
“Let us give our city police decent vehicles that they can use to respond,” Uy said.
City Councilor Romeo Calizon, chairperson of the public safety committee, said that the eight motorcycles are going to be assigned to the Cocpo’s traffic enforcement office.
“The motorcycles are going to be centrally-managed at the Cocpo Headquarters and it will be utilized as a multi-role vehicle for traffic management, VIP protection, and others,” Calizon said.
“We expect that there will more a quick response from our police. We are the gateway to Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro City will be the tourism center in Mindanao,” Calizon said.
Col. Aaron Mandia, Cocpo chief, said that they are grateful for the opportunity to be heard and seen and to be able to show the community how much they value their duty.
Mandia stressed that the maintenance of the vehicles is their utmost concern and that they have already communicated with the Phil. National Police and the Department of Interior and Local Government asking for a budget for fuel and maintenance.
Uy said that they would be providing additional fuel support for the new vehicles, “But since we already turned over these vehicles to the police, they will have to provide maintenance for it.”
“I would like to leave a stern reminder to the station police commanders, these vehicles are brand new and when properly taken care of, they can last for a long time. You have been entrusted these vehicles not by me, but by the local government unit and the people of Cagayan de Oro, you must make sure that these are well-maintained,” Mandia added.
“We have an appropriation for the maintenance from the National Police and the support from Cocpo,” he added. (MT)
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