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John Unson - Philstar.com
March 1, 2026 | 5:51pm
Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao (right) personally received on Feb. 28, 2026, from the Bangsamoro regional police the special award for their local government unit's extensive involvement in maintaining law and order in the 37 barangays under its jurisdiction.
Photo courtesy of Philstar.com / John Unson
PARANG, Maguindanao del Norte— Two police units in Cotabato City and the office of its mayor received special citations on Saturday, February 28, from the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (PRO-BAR) for outstanding performance in peacekeeping and law enforcement.
The special awards in Cotabato City on Saturday were presented to recipients by PRO-BAR, facilitated by the region’s police director, Brig. Gen. Jaysen De Guzman, and Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The ceremony was part of the nationwide 2026 commemoration of Philippine National Police Day.
Held at Camp SK Pendatun in Barangay Making, the event also marked the establishment of the PNP on Jan. 29, 1991, through a legislative measure that merged the Integrated National Police and the Philippine Constabulary into a single national police force.
Mayor Bruce Matabalao, chairperson of the multi-sector Cotabato City Peace and Order Council, personally received the special stakeholder’s recognition award from PRO-BAR, an honor intended for local government units, during Saturday’s ceremony at the regional police camp.
De Guzman and Macacua also presented a recognition plaque to the Cotabato City Police Office for being PRO-BAR’s best city police office over an extended period.
Col. Jibin Bongcayao, director of the Cotabato City police, accepted the award in the presence of Matabalao and other local executives from across the Bangsamoro region. PRO-BAR additionally recognized Bongcayao with a separate plaque as the Bangsamoro region’s best senior police commissioned officer for operations.
BARMM covers the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi, as well as the cities of Lamitan, Marawi and Cotabato.
Another PRO-BAR unit, the Cotabato City Mobile Force Company, led by Lt. Col. John Vincent Bravo, received a plaque for being the best city mobile force company in BARMM.
De Guzman and Macacua told reporters that Bongcayao and his subordinates across Cotabato City’s four police stations, the personnel of the mobile force company under Bravo, and Matabalao’s office are cooperating closely in security and law enforcement operations across all 37 barangays of the city.
Cotabato City recorded only six gun-related incidents in the past seven months, a significant drop compared with previous months’ crime statistics.
Bongcayao and Edgar Jubay, BARMM director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, have acknowledged through regional media the crucial roles of Matabalao, constituent-barangay officials, and traditional Moro and non-Moro community leaders in supporting operations, including the entrapment of shabu and marijuana traffickers and the closure of drug dens in coordinated raids.
