Youth participation highlighted in National Crime Prevention Week

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By Jennifer P. Rendon

Youth participation took center stage as the country celebrated the 30th National Crime Prevention Week (NCPW) with the theme, “Kabataan Tara na, sa Crime Prevention Kaisa Ka!”

Atty. Jerome Asuga, National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) 6 regional director, was the guest of honor at the Police Regional Office (PRO) 6’s NCPW kick-off ceremony held at Camp General Martin Delgado, Iloilo City, on Monday, September 2.

Asuga underscored the importance of empowering and involving the youth in crime prevention and suppression efforts.

To achieve this, NAPOLCOM will collaborate with PRO-6 to bring crime prevention campaigns to school campuses. Asuga mentioned they would coordinate with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to gain access to school premises and seek an audience with the schools’ Parents and Teachers Associations.

“The only way to do it is for us to ask DepEd to allow us to orient the parents-teachers association about crime prevention and crime reporting,” he said.

The initiative aims to help reduce incidents of crimes victimizing young children, such as sexual violence and cybercrimes.

Asuga emphasized that the goal is to strengthen community awareness about crime reporting, shifting the focus from crime solution to crime prevention.

Since it is a new directive from the NAPOLCOM Central Office, Asuga is relying on police officers and members of the PNP Advisory Council to lead the talks and orientation.

However, he admitted they are still in the planning stages and have yet to discuss the initiative with DepEd or CHED leadership.

During the NCPW kick-off program, Asuga reiterated that the Police and NAPOLCOM are one organization with a shared mission of combating crimes.

The National Crime Prevention Week is observed every first week of September each year, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 461 issued on August 31, 1994.