So-called scalawag cops shine in Basilan relief ops

So-called scalawag police help in relief operations in flood-hit areas in Lamitan City. Photos courtesy of Richard Falcatan, station dxNO, Basilan

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The “misfits” in the Philippine National Police whom President Rodrigo Duterte deployed to Basilan are bouncing back, struggling to prove they are worthy of a second chance.

Lamitan City Mayor Rose Furigay said on Wednesday that her constituents are thankful to some of the police for helping rescue hundreds whose villages were hit by devastating flash floods last week.

There are 110 newly transferred police personnel in Basilan, discharging peacekeeping duties under the provincial police office.

Furigay said rampaging floodwaters spawned by three days of incessant rains swept through 11 barangays in Lamitan City, affecting thousands of villagers.

“Rescue and relief work was made lighter with the help of the responding police teams. They are just as patriotic as we are. They deserve help to rise again as good police officers,” she said.

Lamitan City, which has 45 barangays, is capital of the island province of Basilan, 27 kilometers by land from Isabela City, where the provincial police office is located.

The Basilan PPO is overseeing the programs meant to hasten the reform of the policemen who were transferred from their units in Metro Manila over alleged infractions.

“We also ought to thank the military and different agencies, including our provincial government and the executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for extending help to the calamity-stricken residents of Lamitan City,” Furigay said.

Among the first to respond to the emergency last week were teams of local police along with their colleagues originally from the National Capital Region Police Office.

The so-called scalawag cops were sent Basilan for two years as punishment for various offenses.

Pablan Alih, a Basilan-based senior staff of ARMM’s local government department, said he was fascinated with how the police officers from NCRPO, despite language barriers, managed to help evacuate hundreds to higher grounds as heavy rains poured in the flooded areas.

Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, ARMM’s police director, said he is thankful to residents of Lamitan City and the 11 towns in Basilan for treating the police from Metro Manila well.

“Because they agreed to be deployed in Basilan without complaint, there is manifestation that they still love the Philippine National Police and are ready to make amends for whatever possible wrong they have done,” Sindac said Wednesday.

Alih said some of the policemen “thrown” to the province who are now their friends are remorseful.

“They have built friendship with people in the areas where they work. They are doing their assignments fine enough as we can see from a distance,” Alih said.

He said that, as moderate Muslims, it is a “religious calling” for them to help people become respectful, friendly and kind to others regardless of religions and races.

“In Islam, even just a smile to strangers is already a form of charity,” said Alih, a Muslim ethnic Yakan.

State of calamity in Lamitan

Basilan Gov. Jim Hataman enlisted some of the former Metro Manila police in distributing food and other relief supplies to flood victims in the initial humanitarian outreach missions of the provincial government.

Personnel of ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team, which delivered relief supplies to flood-stricken barangays in Lamitan City, confirmed seeing some policemen helping facilitate relief services.

The HEART, operating under the ministerial control of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, also distributed relief supplies on Wednesday to thousands of ethnic Yakan villagers dislocated by recent hostilities between the military and Abu Sayyaf bandits in Albarka town in Basilan.

Myrna Jocelyn Henry, information staff of HEART, said their ongoing relief operations in the island province are being assisted by Basilan’s provincial police director, Senior Superintendent Nickson Muksan, his local subordinates and all of the “scalawag” police from Metro Manila.

The Sangguniang Panglungsod of Lamitan has declared the city under a state of calamity to hasten the release of state funds earmarked for relief and rehabilitation services.

Source : http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/03/15/1681605/so-called-scalawag-cops-shine-basilan-relief-ops