CLARK FREEPORT – Mabalacat City Mayor Marino Morales has insisted that his city has remained “generally peaceful”, but vowed to push for an increase in his city’s measly 73-man police force to ensure peace and order for a population reaching about 300,000.
“I have asked the city council to pass immediately a resolution asking the national government to give us at least 400 to 600 more policemen. The present ratio of about one cop per 3,000 people is just ridiculous,” he said in a press conference at Bale Balita here yesterday morning.
Morales said that in the meantime, the local police force headed by Senior Supt. Ferdie Perez have already conducted seminars and trainings for barangay officials and tanods so as to mobilize them as peace and order multiplier forces.
“We have trained them in basic ‘ronda’, basic investigation and how to relay information to the police,” Perez said.
Despite the wide ratio between cops and population, Perez said that crime rate in this city has been declining, noting that on the average, the local police serves eight warrants of arrest in criminal cases. Morales said that regardless of police manpower shortage, the peace and order in his city has been attracting more investors.
He said more franchises of known food chains such as MacDonalds and Jolibee are establishing in various areas.
“Puregold is interested in building a multi-story commercial building in the old public market,” he said.
