Calizo bats for maritime police aid

 

The maritime police should be tapped to secure Cagayan de Oro City’s maritime areas especially during fiesta-related activities, a city legislator said.

 

‘During the recent fiesta celebration, we were in dire need of maritime security assistance. The Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) is limited only to traffic management and not on securing people gathering in the shoreline for fiesta-related activities (like the fluvial procession),’ said Councilor Romeo Calizo during last Tuesday’s joint City-Provincial Peace and Order Council briefing.

 

It was learned during the briefing hosted by the city office of the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) that the maritime police based in the city is ill-equipped and lack personnel to meet the city’s maritime security requirements. Calizo, who chairs the 20th City Council’s public safety and order committee, said the province also needs a strong maritime police to secure their shorelines.

 

Both Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy and Misamis Oriental Gov. Peter Unabia agreed during the briefing that peace and order concerns are shared between the city and province since it impacts on their tourism and investment climate. ‘The maritime police is admittedly deficient but it’s willing to assist us (in providing security) to potential tourist sites along the shoreline,’ Calizo said./Text by SC with photo by Isabelle Czarina Soriano of CMO