Bacolod City is a contender for the Most Child-Friendly City national award, while Bacolod Police director Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz is also one of the five contenders for the Best Senior Police Commissioned Officer of the Year in the national level.

De la Paz was recognized as the Best Senior Police Commissioned Officer of the Year in Region VI, while the Bacolod City Police Office was awarded as the Best City Police Station in the region.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday wished De la Paz the best of luck and assured him of continued support and cooperation.

“We hope he will make it because if he does, that will be another feather on the cap of Bacolod City,” he said.

De la Paz attributed their accomplishments to the support extended by the city government and the impact of the local police force in serving the community.

He said they were able to enhance mobility, strengthened their crisis management committee, organized critical incident task group to address and respond to any critical incident like bank robberies, hostage situations and other man-made emergencies, he said.

Another significant incident is the consistency of their campaign against dangerous drugs and the illegal numbers game, De la Paz said.

De la Paz said they have neutralized 91 active personalities involved in the illegal drug trade since 2011 and have recovered millions worth of “ecstacy,” nabbed wanted persons involved in heinous crimes, recovered P14 million pirated CD's together with other concerned agencies, reduced operations of illegal numbers games from 16 to about three.

Meanwhile, Leonardia said Bacolod has always been a finalist in the Most Child Friendly City national award, and they hope they will make it this year.

“But the mere fact that we have been consistent is something we should be proud of,” he said.

Susan Mugato, Department of Social Welfare and Development Officer IV, said the criteria for the search include social protection, health aspect, functionality of the Local Council for the Protection of Children, education and child participation.

Bacolod is the regional winner for the Most Child-Friendly City in Western Visayas since Iloilo City backed out for lack of time, Mugato, who heads the team that conducted a two-day evaluation in Bacolod, said.

Marilyn Tumilba, Department of Health Regional Nutritionist IV, said the team will validate what Bacolod has and prepare it for the national evaluation and shortlist those who will be included in the re-evaluation in the national level.

She said being a consistent finalist is a good indication that Bacolod is concerned with its children. If it stops, they will no longer be able to avail of much assistance for the children from the national government, added.*CGS

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