By Rodrigo S. Victoria
Bicycling is common to many, both young and old, as a physical sport of endurance for professional cyclists, and as fun game and a way of flexing muscles to most of us.
But to the men and women in uniform of the Biliran Police Provincial Office, they ride a bike for a cause.
“Bicycling by the BPPO police is one avenue of letting the community feel the nurturing presence of police officers,” Police Major Lilibeth Ngoho Morillo said referring to their two bicycling initiatives, the Pedal Kontra Droga and the Padyak ni Aleng Pulis.
Morillo, chief of the BPPO police community relations (PCR) section, proudly said that their bicycling initiatives have already been making significant strides in fulfilling one major police functions – maintenance of peace and order.
She said the BPPO bikers, together with other local bike groups and enthusiasts, have joined forces during the Day 1 as kick-off activity in observance of the week-long National Crime Prevention Week on September 1-7 anchored on the theme, “BuhayPahalagahan, KomunidadMagtulungan, KrimenHadlangan.”
On September 1, the BPPO bikers and other bikes groups pedalled from Almeria schools where they distributed anti-criminality IEC materials to secondary students and ended up in Catmon Elementary School where lectures on anti-criminality campaign and a feeding activity were conducted.
“These two bicycling initiatives, which started in 2016 through Police Colonel Robert Alexander Morico II, the former BPPO chief, have gained ground and more support from the civilian population of the island province,” Morillo said.
He added, “Police visibility is not only confined to beat and foot police patrols, bicycling is also one way of bridging the police to the community.”
These initiatives aimed at preventing students from being victims of rape cases and engaging in illegal drugs, and in preventing the proliferation of other form of illegal activities like illegal gambling, illegal fishing, etc., are significantly contributing to the decrease in the incidence of crime in the province since it was launched.
She urged other bicycling enthusiasts in the province to join them as she believes that crime prevention is not only a police matter but also with the involvement of the whole community. (LDL/RSV/PIA-8, Biliran)
