CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines — Eight outstanding police officers in Region 3 were awarded in simple ceremonies led Friday night by Deputy Director-General Arturo G. Cacdac, Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Chief for Operations.

The awardees were led by Superintendent Edgar Alan Okubo, Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office (PPO) director, and Supt. Rommel Velasco, Bataan PPO director for the Senior Police Commissioned Officer (PCO) category.

For the junior PCO category, the awardees were Chief Inspector Luisito Tan of the Angeles City Police Office and Chief Insp. Pascual delos Reyes of the Tarlac PPO.

Senior Police Officers 2 Desiderio Noora (Aurora PPO) and Danilo Nazareno (Bataan PPO) were honored in the Police Non-Commissioned Officer (PNCO) category alongside SPO1 Shirley Mostoles (Olongapo CPO) and PO2 Norbelita Ingaw (Tarlac PPO) for the Women Police Services category.

The Search for the Eight Outstanding Policemen and Policewomen of the Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3) was conceptualized by Cacdac during his stint as PRO 3 director and in partnership with the JBT Group of Companies under Jose B. Tan.

The awardees were chosen after several months of stringent screening by the Selection Board composed of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Regional Director Florida Dijan, National Police Commission (Napolcom) Regional Director Manuel Pontanal, Commission on Higher Education Officer-in-Charge Virginia Akiate, and Monsignor Eugenio Mercado.

In his speech, Cacdac cited the significant role of police personnel in maintaining public order and safety.

He said that giving awards to deserving PNP personnel is timely since their program dubbed, “Strengthening the Reward and Disciplinary System of the PNP,” is among the priority thrusts of Director General Nicanor Bartolome in his 1-Point Action Plan.

As such, Chief Supt. Edgardo T. Ladao, Police Regional PRO 3 director, vowed to boost the morale of police officers and personnel in Central Luzon by continuing the reward and recognition program initiated by Cacdac for deserving members of the organization.