LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The town of Atok in this province would soon have its first Philippine National Police (PNP) station after the groundbreaking ceremony of the site on Wednesday where it would be built.
Maj. Leo Danasen, chief of the Benguet Provincial Police Office logistics division, said the PNP allotted PHP4.79 million for the construction of a standard “B” category police station.
The police station will be a three-story building, with its third floor dedicated to functions, meetings, training and other activities.
It will have a client-friendly room for the Women and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD), a spacious area for the different sections of the station including an area for the filing of documents, a living quarters for the police officers who are not from the town, and a detention cell.
The project is expected to be completed in 2020.
In 1992, the municipality allowed the PNP to use one of the buildings beside the town hall. The use of the facility continued until it was recently discovered that the PNP did not have its own “home” in Atok.
When the 29-year-old building was demolished in October this year, the PNP found a temporary station on the third floor of the municipal agriculture office.
In 2017, Atok municipal government executed a Deed of Donation and turned over the original certificate of title of the site to the PNP in April 2018.
In an earlier interview over the weekend, Atok Mayor Raymundo Sarac said the new building, that would be built on a 172-square meter lot, would reflect an image of good service from the police.
“Police visibility is important and the constituents who go to the police station and will see an accessible and good building will also have the impression that they can be properly served by the police.,” he said in Ilocano.
Sarac said the role of the police in Atok, which is near Halsema national highway, is not just to ensure peace and order but also to respond to emergencies considering the location has been an accident-prone zone. **PNA
