BY AARON RECUENCO
Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), on Tuesday launched a new project dubbed as BaCod (Barangay Anti-COVID Defense) as the country’s law enforcers intend to wage a well-coordinated and valiant fight not only against the deadly disease.
Cascolan said a strong presence of the police at the barangay level is needed so the quarantine rules and other health protocols could be observed to the letter.
“We will expand the participation and cooperation in the community. We will no longer be regarded as just enforcers in the checkpoints. We will have more presence in barangays. We will be closer to the people in this fight,” said Cascolan.
But the purpose of BaCod goes beyond the name as it also focuses on illegal drugs, internal security and insurgency at the barangay level.
Cascolan said the barangays play a key role not only in identifying the street-level drug personalities but also on illegal drugs syndicates operating in the country.
“We will further push our fight against illegal drugs, another menace that insidiously destroys our people. We will be more aggressive in capturing high value targets,” said Cascolan.
The Chief PNP said the strategy also embeds the anti-insurgency campaign of the government under the Executive Order 70 which was created to end community insurgency in the country. (Aaron Recuenco)
