DILG’s Patrol 117 expands coverage to provinces

With the success of CALL 117 in Metro Manila, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will expand its coverage to the countryside.

Patrol, the acronym for People’s Action Team Responding On-Line, will integrate the community and private sector with government safety agencies. "We are now looking forward to organizing the barangays in the different cities and municipalities," said Col. Filipino Amoguis, executive director of the Patrol Development Group.

Patrol held a seminar for representatives of different cities in various regions, including the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), to introduce the program. Some 100 selected members of the local police force, firemen, and DILG officers of 21 cities from 14 regions attended the ATOMM Team Training Course held at the Local Government Academy Training Center in Los Baños, Laguna. ATOMM stands for Advocacy, Training, Organizing, Mobilizing and Monitoring, to oversee PATROL in the different cities and municipalities.

As communities expand in modern times, we see neighborhoods of strangers, noted Roberto Alvarez, executive vice president of the Foundation for Crime Prevention (FCP). "I no longer know my neighbors," he said.

He stressed that closer relations among residents will enhance the program and lend Patrol valuable assistance. "There are two components to PATROL," said Alvarez. "First, you have P-A-T or People’s Action Team, which means organizing the barangay so that people may get to know each other, and second, you have R-O-L, or Responding On Line, which involves dialing 117 whenever necessary."

PATROL in Metro Manila is in place. Working with DILG on the project are the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Foundation for Crime Prevention (FCP) as well as the PLDT and the various telecommunications companies. Full operation in Metro Cebu and Metro Davao is expected by the end of the year. Highly urbanized cities will follow, along with selected component cities.

Amoguis said they are concentrating on the Calabarbu area, (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Bulacan). "This is initially to secure the surrounding provinces of Metro Manila," he said. "Our timetable is targeting full implementation of the program by the year 2003."

The ATOMM unit will be responsible for barangay organizations such as the Barangay Patrol, the Barangay Emergency Respond Service (for emergency situations); the Barkadahan (Barangay Kaunlaran Dakilang Hangarin), a multi-sectoral, multi problem group; and the Citizens Patrol Movement, which will handle intelligence information as well as pacifying conflicts in the community.

DILG Secretary Joey Lina, credited to be the "father of CALL 117," stressed the role of the PNP, the BFP and the BJMP in ensuring public safety. "Public safety is a primary task of the DILG, and we need to make sure that people are protected from criminals as well as provide immediate solutions when crimes are committed," he said. "Without community participation, we will have difficulties in carrying out our duties.