Bripka Gaguk Mobilises Bolsel Youth to Care for Humanity and the Environment

Bripka Gaguk Prasetyo is regarded as a humane and highly community-minded police officer in Bolaang Mongondow Selatan Regency (Bolsel), North Sulawesi. The head of the Intel Unit at Polsek Pinolosian has mobilised youths to care for fellow humans and their environment.

For his contributions, Bripka Gaguk was proposed as a candidate for the Hoegeng Awards 2026 by Bolaang Uki residents in Bolsel, named Wiranto Makalalag. Bripka Gaguk is said to have brought together youths in the Molibagu Youth Volunteer Association (Peredam) Bolsel.

“He is actually not from Bolaang Mongondow Selatan or from Sulawesi, but from Java. So we, as native Bolsel residents, feel that ‘This person from outside Bolsel has a high sense of care for our area, even though he isn’t a native here’. From that, I saw it would be more solid if he joined them in Peredam,” Wiranto told detikcom on Thursday, 19 February 2026.

Wiranto says there have been many social activities driven by Bripka Gaguk through Peredam Bolsel since 2020. He adds that Bripka Gaguk mentors Bolsel’s youth to care for fellow humans and the environment by inviting them to take part in social activities, such as disaster response.

“There have been many activities indeed, and he is the initiator of all Peredam activities. If you look at Peredam’s Instagram and Facebook, they are there as well,” he said.

The social actions routinely held by Peredam Bolsel each year include mass circumcisions. Recently, Wiranto says, Bripka Gaguk is currently pursuing the breeding of an endemic Bolsel species, the Maleo bird, to prevent its extinction.

“He conducts lobbying to figure out how we can save the maleo in our area. There has been little attention—from the bridge to the breeding site there is no access, and there is no salary for the maleo keeper either. From that, he gathers us kids to care for it together,” Wiranto said.

Wiranto hopes Bripka Gaguk will remain strong in mobilising Peredam Bolsel, which has brought together many young people to lead more meaningful lives for fellow humans and the environment.

‘In the future, I hope he remains enthusiastic about managing this community. May the community continue to exist and operate,’ he said.

In a separate interview, Bripka Gaguk explained the origin of the idea to form Peredam Bolsel. In 2020, Bolsel was struck by flash floods, and he was entrusted by several colleagues from outside the town to channel the aid to those affected.

Initially he was hesitant, fearing he could not safeguard the donors’ entrusted contributions for the disaster victims. But eventually Bripka Gaguk found the courage to accept the donors’ entrusted tasks by turning the back yard of his house into a communal kitchen for the disaster victims.

“As time went on, one or two days later, more youths from several helping organisations appeared; I said, ‘If you like it, come together.’ All youth communities that focus on flood relief, let us help them gathered,” Bripka Gaguk said.

After almost six months dealing with flood victims in his area, Bripka Gaguk felt his task was complete with the youths in Peredam Bolsel. But the youths wanted to stay with Bripka Gaguk to continue contributing to social activities.

“From there it continued to develop; we then registered it legally, and it expanded beyond humanitarian concerns to environmental issues, and including a sanggar and MSMEs. Alhamdulillah it is still running, including the sanggar and the environment work,” he said.

According to Bripka Gaguk, there are currently 112 people involved in the community he has spearheaded. He explains that the funding for each Peredam Bolsel activity comes from fundraising, though he has often had to dip into his own pocket.

“For humanitarian activities, we have ordinary donors who know about our organisation. So when there is a disaster, we publish a flyer and it goes into Peredam’s cash account for humanitarian activities,” Bripka Gaguk said.

“But for day-to-day activities, our funds come from the sanggar; the youths performing dances receive wages, and 15% of those wages goes into Peredam’s coffers, and similarly with friends who run MSMEs; a little goes to the fund,” he added.

Moreover, he reveals his reasons and motivations for embracing Bolsel’s youths in the community. He says that the average young people joining Peredam Bolsel are heavy drinkers and users of illegal drugs.

Because of this, Bripka Gaguk is motivated to change their thinking and bad habits. In Peredam Bolsel, these youths are mentored and steered toward positive activities.

“They are mostly students who drink, get drunk, some using drugs. Fortunately, in Peredam, no drugs, no alcohol, no politics are forbidden. Alhamdulillah, to date all have returned to the right path. The youths no longer consume such things,” he said.

Maleo Bird Breeding

Furthermore, Bripka Gaguk explained his aim to develop the breeding of the Maleo bird in Bolsel. He does not want the endemic animal to become extinct due to poor conservation.

“The problem is the facilities. Previously, Mr. Basri was paid by WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) to manage the Maleo breeding site. It has been over a year since the contract ended because WCS could no longer fund Basri’s salary,” said Gaguk.

Ultimately, he was moved to find a breakthrough in managing Bolsel’s Maleo breeding site. Bripka Gaguk approached senior executives of a gold mining company near the Maleo breeding site to seek assistance so that the conservation process could continue.

“Alhamdulillah”