Puno: Local execs to boost anti-terror drive

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno has mobilized local officials through the peace and order councils to generate community support for the counterinsurgency and anti-terrorism campaign of the military and the police.

"We can fight terrorism not only by reinforcing the operational and logistical capability of our police and military, but also by preventing its occurrence through simple information gathering and monitoring," Puno said.

Puno, who is also chairman of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), recently met with local officials in Mindanao at a recent forum on security and terrorism where he encouraged them to cooperate with the police in the intensified campaign against terrorism and the communist insurgency.

"Peace and order councils, including barangay peace and order committees, can get involved in the fight against terrorism through the monitoring of suspicious movements in their communities and keeping an updated record of all inhabitants in their respective areas of concern," said Puno.

A total of 37,534 barangays have already organized their local peace and order committees as part of the efforts of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to revitalize grassroots-based assemblies nationwide against terrorism.

Puno said the barangay peace and order committees (BPOCs) will serve as catalysts for forging closer partnerships between the military and the police and mobilizing communities in the fight against terrorism.

He said local governments should also include in their annual budget a separate fund for the operational and logistical support for police units and other groups like the civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) that will be mobilized to strengthen the counterterrorism campaign.

He also called on local chief executives, especially in Mindanao, to include an anti-terrorism strategy in their respective Integrated Area/Community Safety Plans.

Puno had earlier called on local officials in Mindanao to form a united front against terrorism by tapping barangay tanods to become members of CVOs that would be deputized as "force mutipliers’’ of the police.

He said that with terrorists becoming increasingly bolder in staging their attacks in Mindanao, the governors and mayors should now lead the fight against terrorism by getting involved in ongoing efforts to mobilize the community against terrorists.

The deputization of CVOs is in accordance with Executive Order No. 546, which makes the PNP a partner of the military in fighting insurgency and other security threats. The executive order also authorized the deployment of barangay tanods against security threats.

Puno said members of CVOs would have to undergo basic anti-terrorism training before they can be recruited and deputized by the police.