COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The city's new police director is optimistic he can surmount all odds and challenges lying ahead of his peacekeeping missions with the support of local folks.
Senior Superintendent Raul Supiter, who graduated from the Philippine National Police Academy in 1991, assumed as city police director Tuesday, replacing Senior Superintendent Rex Anongos, who had served only for a couple of months.
The turnover of the city's police directorship by Anongos to Supiter came after Cotabato City was rocked by a spate of violent incidents sparked by clan wars and the escalation of attacks by guns-for-hire.
Supiter is no stranger to Cotabato City. He was assigned here in the 1990s while a police inspector yet.
He called on city residents to help the local police address criminalities and other domestic issues besetting the local communities.
Supiter said crime prevention is easier if pursued with public support.
“The police alone cannot address all the security problems in the locality. It can only be effectively addressed with the help of local sectors,” Supiter said.
Supiter said he will closely coordinate his crime-prevention activities with barangay officials and the Army’s 5th Special Forces Battalion, who are helping the city police office secure all of the 37 barangays here.
He was the chief of the regional plans and operations division of the Region 12 police office in Gen. Santos City before his designation as Cotabato City's new police director.