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Saturday, August 19, 2006
Police from Mindanao sleep on flattened boxes in empty spaces
By Mia E. Abellana & Oscar C. Pineda
Sun.Star Staff Reporters
Flattened boxes covered by woven mats serve as beds on the second floor of the One Citilink Terminal in Cebu City.
Fatigues, police uniforms and other clothes hang from ropes, while pails with water dippers serve as bedside tables.
Rookie policemen from Mindanao who are in Cebu for their field training program live in such empty spaces throughout Cebu.
They were sent here to augment the province’s forces for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in December.
The 267 policemen occupying the second floor of the One Citilink Terminal are policemen from Regions 10 and 13 and are detailed with the Cebu City Police Office.
Some who had time were able to buy folding beds, while others preferred to hang hammocks for them to sleep in.
Portable toilets and a shower area in the other end of the terminal are reserved for their use.
Heat
Some 14 men are also in an old classroom in Sudlon, Lahug while about 15 men are living in two barangay halls in Consolacion town.
Asked about their living conditions, the rookie policemen gave mixed reactions.
“Init kaayo diri uy (It’s scorching in here),” said one policeman who was sent to the One Citilink Terminal. He pointed to the roof of one building that reflected the sun’s rays on their new quarters.
Most of them have never been to Cebu before and are anxious to go around the city, so they can find their bearings and avoid getting lost.
A policewoman had to walk from the One Citilink Terminal all the way to the Cebu City Police Office on Gorordo Ave. because she did not know which jeepney to ride.
As for the security of their belongings, they are confident that the two duty policemen assigned at the foot of the stairs leading to their new home will keep thieves away.
PO1 Bonifacio Patrocinio, 30, has been a policeman for just eight months.
Driving
Though he misses his wife and nine-year-old daughter in Dipolog City, he said he was getting used to being away from them.
He did not expect, though, to be sent to Cebu for his field training program.
PO1 Ryan Corvera’s driving skills were immediately put to use as he was directed to drive the Consolacion police patrol car to the CPPO headquarters yesterday.
He plans to buy a folding bed soon, to replace the flattened cardboard box he currently sleeps on. He has not gone around the city yet because he feels Consolacion, at nearly 13 kilometers away, is far.
PO1 Yodelou Gascon, 30, is more comfortable at the old school building in Sudlon, Lahug, Cebu City.
Though he and some of his colleagues still sleep on flattened cardboard boxes or old pingpong tables, they have a television set.
The old classroom they are occupying is beside the headquarters of the Centennial Force, a civilian volunteer group.
Hardship
The trees surrounding the classroom also make their quarters cooler compared to the space occupied by their counterparts at the One Citilink Terminal.
However, they all agreed that this was part of their training and they were used to the hard life in the mountains.
“Anad na man mi ani. Sa yuta ra gani mi mangatug (We’re used to this. We even slept on the ground before),” Patrocinio said.
Supt. Pablo Labra II told reporters yesterday that officials at the Police Regional Office 7 are trying to remedy the problem, as more police officers from other regions are expected to arrive for the summit.
Labra admitted these were things they failed to anticipate, but assured they were working to improve the police force’s living conditions.
Lapu-Lapu City’s temporary quarters will need some work too.
Police personnel from Central Mindanao are living inside the Lapu-Lapu City Sports Complex, as they prepare for their summit duties.
The place teems with mosquitoes, mostly from its damp and grassy backyard. Its comfort room gets flooded, sometimes up to knee level, when it rains.
Renting
The officers sleep on the concrete floor of the multi-level bleachers, beside their huge traveling bags and backpacks. When they all leave for duty, one must stay behind to watch their things, as the building has neither gate nor doors.
The unfinished sports complex has two comfort rooms for men and another two for women. But only one room with two toilet bowls is open, as the rest are kept locked.
Despite all that, their most senior officer found everything fine. “No problems so far with their accommodations,” said Senior Insp. Jomaric Felina. Felina and Inspectors Ambrosio Lino and Ramon Gencianos manage the group.
Supt. Louie Oppus, the city’s police chief, admitted there are better places to accommodate these law enforcers. But they can always stay in the gym, and the women at the headquarters, for free.
“They can also look for another place to stay, nearer to the station where they will be assigned,” said Oppus. He promised to ask the City Government for whatever assistance they can extend to these operatives from out-of-town.
PO1 Fatima Potot said 20 of them were lucky to find a house, two days after their arrival, near the public market for P8,000 per month, or P400 each. The rest are still looking for a place.
Oppus said this is part of their acclimatization period, to look for a place to stay and become more familiar with the place.
He said the officers arrived last Aug. 15 and the following day, their finance officer arrived with their paychecks.
“We will teach them patrolling, investigation and traffic management,” said Oppus.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 19, 2006 issue)
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