SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union (PIA) – The 2023 iteration of the National Crime Prevention Week (NCPW) commenced with a thanksgiving mass participated by the NCPW Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) at the Philippine National Police Regional Office (PRO) 1 chapel followed by a kickoff activity at the PRO 1 Auditorium in this city on September 1.

The 29th NCPW celebration has a theme of “Addressing Crime and Advancing Crime Prevention at the Local, National and Global Levels” and pools together regional line agencies, government owned and controlled corporations, local government units and private stakeholders for a weeklong set of activities that will end on September 8.

In his message during the opening program, NAPOLCOM 1 Regional Director George Aplas D. Daskeo underscored the importance of information-dissemination on NCPW in order to increase the knowledge of people on the activity and contribute to crime prevention in the local level, particularly in the grassroots.

“We will support science-based policing. We shall network with communities in sharing information in order to strengthen police-community relations. If people trust the police, they are more likely to cooperate with the police and therefore prevent crime,” Director Daskeo said.

The set of activities for this year’s NCPW shall include an orientation by the Student Crime Prevention Committee (SCPC) for high school students of La Union. 

This include lectures on RA 9995 or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act and RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 on September 4 at the Bauang North Central School in Bauang, La Union. 

The said activities shall be led by the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), and the Department of Education (DepEd).

On September 5, there will be a Prosecution, Law Enforcement and Community Coordinating Service (PROLECS) to be led by the Philippine National Police – La Union Police Provincial Office (PNP-LUPPO) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) at the LUPPO’s Camp Diego Silang as well as a Poster and Slogan Making Contest for Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL) to be led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 1.

A two-day Training of Trainers for the Barangay Drug Clearing Program shall be spearheaded by the Provincial Government of La Union on September 5-6 in partnership with the PNP and the PDEA.

A gift-giving and medical mission shall also be conducted at San Gabriel town on September 6 for disadvantaged beneficiaries as well as a medical-dental mission and lectures on the Anti-Rape Law and the Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) to be led by members of the RTWG.

On the same day, the NAPOLCOM 1 shall sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) at Balaoan, La Union for the implementation of the Community and Service-Oriented Policing (CSOP) program.

An Inter-Agency Information and Free Legal Services Booth to be manned by RTWG members shall also be held at the CSI Mall in San Fernando City on September 7, especially designed for people needing legal advice and other government service.

Capping up the weeklong set of activities shall be a culminating activity at the NAPOLCOM 1 where winners of the Poster and Slogan Making contests shall be announced.

Proclamation No. 461 series of 1994 declares the first week of September of every year as the NCPW in order to combat criminality through the five pillars of the criminal justice system, requiring the active participation and intensified implementation of activities and projects by different sectors of society. (JCR/AMB/MJTAB/CCMT, PIA La Union)