Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Dialogue on areglo system in the offing

Tabuk City, Kalinga - A multi-sectoral group composed of businessmen, doctors and clergymen which had a dialogue October 4 with the police over the rash of robbery incidents in the city intends to consult with lawyers and exponents of the areglo or amicable settlement practice.

This plan was prompted by the information from the police during the dialogue that along with the shortage in logistics and personnel, the areglo system is one of the major problems in the enforcement of laws in the city.

Businesswoman Christine Wangdali, one of the convenors of the dialogue, quoted the police as saying that even with the arrest of the suspects in robberies, the case will not prosper because victims normally resort to areglo or out of court settlement with the suspects.

"We sympathize with the police because once the parties agree to settlement, there is nothing anybody could do with it anymore," Wangdali said.

Dr. Cynthia Rojo, also one of those who initiated the dialogue, said there is a need to hear the positions of legal minds and binodngans (bodong practitioners) on the issue because the areglo system is one of the reasons it's the same people committing robberies in the city again and again.

She quoted Rev. Luis Aoas, one of the more active amicable settlement negotiators in the province, as saying that supposed to be, only the civil aspect of the case will be settled to bring peace to the parties involved and for the criminal aspect of the case to take its course so that the culprits would be punished and learn their lesson.

Rojo, however, said that the dilemma is that as practiced, the amicable system requires the execution of an affidavit of desistance by the complainants.

Wangdali said that aside from the plan to thresh out the issue on the areglo system, the multi-sectoral group will also help the police by lobbying with city and provincial government for the extension of more financial support to the police especially in the form of gasoline allocation.

Pending the response of the LGUs, the businessmen offered .the police 200 liters of gasoline. The police also agreed to reestablish the detachments in the Spring area along the Tabuk-Tuguegarao Road and in Luyocan along the Tabuk-Roxas Road as well as maintain a 24-hour visibility in certain areas in the city to deter criminal activities.

The group also agreed to activate a text brigade composed of concerned citizens who will report incidents and give useful information to the police through its hotlines.

The Kalinga Medical Society, the association of doctors in the province, also intends to conduct a search for model policemen as a means of encouraging better performance amongst them. **by Estanislao Albano , Jr., Zigzag Weekly, Oct. 7, 2007

Blogged with Flock

No comments: