The Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO) is beefing up its disaster response capabilities with the PHP48.2 million allocation from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The fund was approved under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) 2023 provided through the initiative of Senator Loren Legarda and the province’s lone district Rep.Antonio Agapito Legarda, said APPO Information Officer Lt. Col. Joseph Puno in an interview on Thursday.

Puno said during Severe Tropical Storm Paeng in 2022 they relied mostly on the limited search and rescue (SAR) equipment of the Antique Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO).

“Police personnel were ready for their deployment to assist the affected families, but then we lacked the necessary mobility and equipment,” he said.

Puno said the police in the provincial headquarters and the various towns of the province did not have enough patrol cars, life jackets, and other necessary equipment to respond to the disaster so they were reliant on the PDRRMO and its municipal counterparts.

Hence, they requested additional equipment, mobility, infrastructure development, and funding for their training to further boost their capability, particularly in underwater SAR.

They will also be expanding the conference hall inside their provincial headquarters so that it could accommodate the officers and personnel during their meetings, especially in times of emergencies. (PNA)