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Thursday, January 22, 2004
Gas for police stopped
By Gingging A. Campaña Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Allan I. Varquez & Garry Cabotaje
MAYOR Tomas Osmeña suspended the monthly gasoline allowance for all police cars in Cebu City, including the one used by Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Chief Cecil Ezra Sandalo.
The order took effect last Tuesday, when reports reached the mayor that not a single policeman rode the City’s 46 rented multicabs since Jan. 17, when police visibility was needed for the procession in honor of the Sto. Niño.
Osmeña also complained that only 12 policemen were stationed in Fuente Osmeña last Saturday night, to guard about 50,000 people there.
Cebu City Public Information Officer Nagiel Bañacia pointed out that some policemen were seen “relaxing inside their airconditioned offices while the procession was going on outside.”
But Osmeña also said the allowance will be restored once the police personnel start escorting the multicabs again, according to Bañacia. Bañacia added that some policemen were seen riding the multicabs again last Tuesday, after the mayor reprimanded them.
With the suspension, 10 Toyota Revos of the Mobile Patrol Division will be affected, as well as all vehicles in each police precinct.
Each vehicle receives a monthly fuel allowance of 250 to 400 liters, depending on the type.
Borrow cabs
In January 2002, Osmeña had also threatened to cut off the police’s fuel allocation, after the local police office failed to furnish a certified true copy of their fuel allocation from the PNP.
The City Government had wanted to know how much it needed to set aside to augment the fuel from the National Government, and at the same time make sure the allowance would not be abused nor wasted.
Sandalo refused to comment when Sun.Star reached him through his mobile phone last night. But he informed his men about the mayor’s order in a command conference yesterday morning.
While the gas allowance is suspended, the police can use 14 City Hall multicabs for night patrols so their operations will not be paralyzed.
Supt. Noel Gillamac, chief of Waterfront police precinct, said his office and the Mabolo Police Station will have two multicabs while the other precincts can borrow one each.
Police precincts can use the multicabs after 5 p.m. beginning today and will have to return them to City Hall the following morning.
“They may have intended our use of the multicabs at night, when most crimes are committed. At least we can use these for patrols,” Gillamac said.
Make do
He said the suspension of gasoline allowance does not affect his precinct that much because their City-owned FX van has been unserviceable for three months now.
Upon learning about the mayor’s order, Police Regional Office 7 Chief Rolando Garcia urged the Cebu City police force to make do with what they have.
But Garcia warned that the reduction of fuel supply will hamper the anti-crime campaign, since the PNP’s fuel supply is not enough.
“The police force has to make do with what they have. There is no reason for them to fail,” Garcia said.
Garcia added that he hopes the affected police units will perform well, despite the lack of fuel support, to merit the restoration of the gasoline assistance.
The mayor, Bañacia said, is fed up with the police because “they always failed to follow the mayor’s orders.”
Patrol always
The assigned policemen reportedly escorted the multicabs on that day because most of the vehicles that time were used by the Sinulog Foundation Inc. to transport contingents and for other fiesta activities.
“But they have been told already that they should ride these multicabs everywhere. Those who had requested to use the multicabs and the drivers were instructed not to leave unless a policeman was with them,” Bañacia told City Hall reporters.
The City Government has been spending P1 million monthly for the last two years, as lease payments for 46 multicabs from the Norkis Group of Companies.
The multicabs have been used in programs for peace and order, health and sanitation, social services and revenue collection.
Norkis regularly enters into a P10-million contract with the City for 10 months.
But last Jan. 14, the City Council passed a resolution authorizing Osmeña to renew the contract with Norkis for only two months.
Except for Councilors Eugenio Gabuya, Carmelita Piramide and Dana Ruiz-Sesante of the opposition, who had their objections registered, all members voted for its approval.
(January 22, 2004 issue)
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