The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has formed a task force to address the recent proliferation of vandalism, which is prohibited by City Ordinance 534.
Col. Noel Aliño, police city director, said on Thursday, April 4, that they have been directed by Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez to strictly implement the ordinance as more vandalism on walls of commercial establishments have been monitored around the city.
“I issued an order to all BCPO operatives on this. Those who are able to arrest the vandals will receive monetary reward,” he added.
Aliño assigned Lt. Col. Lester Leada as the anti-vandalism task force overall supervisor and Lt. Greeky Cayao as the team leader.
The members include the chiefs and personnel of the 10 police stations, Bacolod City Mobile Force Company, Mobile Patrol Unit and Traffic Enforcement Unit.
Aliño said during the task force’s first online meeting, they discussed the salient provisions of City Ordinance 534, measures to be implemented, identification and filing of cases against vandals, and monitoring of interventions and accomplishments.
“This is the BCPO’s anti-vandalism program or intervention,” he added.
The BCPO chief said they will also tap the assistance of the community of LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning and more) under the “Bacolod (B)-PLUS” initiative.
“We will identify the vandalized places and start a clean-up. These will be painted by the group from the LGBTQ+,” he added.
Benitez’s spokesperson, Singcang-Airport village chief Caesar Distrito, said personnel of the city’s Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD), Public Order and Safety Office and Bacolod Traffic Authority Office as well as the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Department of Public Works and Highways will also coordinate with the task force.*PNA
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Benitez is committed to take active measures against the widespread proliferation of vandalism in Bacolod, Distrito said in a press release
Benitez is directing the Bacolod City Police Office to strictly implement the Anti-Vandalism ordinance, he said.
Benitez will create a Task Force Against Vandalism composed of all barangay captains, the Bacolod City Police Office director and various city government offices, he said.
Data from the Department of Social Services and Development show that many of the vandals are minors so the department is ordered “to take charge of the handling of the violators”, Distrito said.
The mayor also directed the barangays and Sanggunian Kabataan to strictly enforce the Curfew Ordinance for Minors, he added.
The city government is looking at putting up Expression or Freedom Walls in different vacant areas of the city where the vandals “are free to express their emotions and opinions as a form of self-expression”, Distrito added.
Benitez is suggesting to the BCPO to identify the gang/graffiti artists by meeting them, he said.
Distrito said the Benitez is urging the different barangays to conduct clean up drives and repainting operations in partnership with various youth groups and gangs with the police.*