The Ilocos Police Regional Office (PRO-1) has partnered with religious leaders and village officials in the region for its internal cleansing measures through the KASIMBAYANAN: Kapulisan, Simbahan, at Pamayanan ng Diyos (police, church and community of God) program.
Pastor Roland Santiago, Bless Our Cops and Soldiers coordinator in Ilocos Region, said the program is anchored on the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) core values of being God-centered, service-oriented, and family-based police.
“KASIMBAYANAN is under the PRO-1 regional director Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr.’s initiative for the prevention of irregularities among the police in the region. The PNP’s internal cleansing has three aspects which are punitive, restorative, and preventive. This program falls on the preventive category,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.
Santiago said through the program, PNP’s squad weekly interactive meeting (SWIM) would include not just the police in the towns and cities, but also the village officials.
“The police have their own squads composed of five to eight members or maximum of 10 in the police stations under SWIM, and the village officials would also have their own squads in their respective barangays led by a squad leader (the barangay captain or the most senior in their group) assisted by the police and religious leaders or the life coaches,” he said.
Each squad studies internal cleansing and leadership books, and undergoes counseling using modules designed by the life coaches and the PNP, he added.
Santiago said KASIMBAYANAN has four stages and most of the towns and cities in the region are still at the third stage that is the cascading or disseminating information to the communities.
“Stage 4 would be the memorandum of agreement signing for the continuous SWIM in the barangays,” he said.
Santiago said since the program was launched in March this year, its effects were already observed even amid several obstacles such as the pandemic lockdowns.
“PRO-1 was awarded for institutionalizing right PNP’s SWIM program, decrease in administrative cases, and the police in the region have come up with different programs in connection to KASIMBAYANAN such as Calasiao PNP’s ‘Huli Mo, Sharean Mo’ where the arrested suspects were given biblical counsel,” he added.
Azurin earlier acknowledged that some policemen have the tendency to go astray hence, the launching of the program.
“Under my leadership, I thought of involving church leaders who are going around towns and cities. Through them, we could relay the message to the community to help their police to change not just from unwanted activities but also in doing their job well so that they would be more inspired to do their duties,” he said in a statement. (PNA)
