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Friday, September 22, 2006
Crame pledges firearms for 100 new cops
By Rose O. Verzosa Sun.Star Staff Reporter
With Oscar C. Pineda
Police Deputy Director Gen. Isidro Lapeña visited various police offices in Cebu yesterday to check on their personnel and logistical resources for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in December.
Lapeña, the overall commander of the PNP Task Force Asean Summit, said 200 police patrol cars and 250 motorcycles are being brought to Cebu for the summit.
He inspected yesterday morning the vehicles that were already delivered.
At least 40 Toyota Altis patrol cars were stored in the unfinished Uniwide building in the Mandaue South Reclamation Area, while 63 Honda motorcycles were kept in the warehouse of the 7th Forward Service Support Unit of the Army Support Command in Pier 3, Arellano Blvd., Cebu City.
Thirty-nine Honda motorcycles are now being used by the Police Regional Office 7 and the Traffic Management Group.
Lapeña also spoke before the policemen who are on field training in Cebu, to explain to them their roles in the summit.
Roadwork
Aside from being on training, Lapeña said they will augment the security task force in Cebu. Most of them will be given road security assignments, he added.
“As you perform your individual duties for Task Force Cebu, I would like to emphasize the way you conduct yourself, your behavior, the way you wear your uniform,” Lapeña told the policemen in Mandaue City.
He also advised them to apply what they learned in school.
Lapeña dropped by the social hall of the San Roque Parish in Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City yesterday morning to look at the living conditions of the policemen who are billeted there.
So far, Lapeña was pleased with what he saw and expressed gratitude to the parish priests and to the City Government for their help.
A total of 228 police recruits from Regions 7, 8 and 11 were assigned in Mandaue City. Of these, 100 are staying at the parish social hall, while the rest are in the Mandaue City sports complex.
Lapeña, during the open forum in Mandaue, assured that the policemen will get an additional P30 daily as training subsistence allowance.
Allowance
Mandaue City Police Office Director Eduardo Catabas also told them that the City Council already passed a resolution granting a P500 monthly allowance to each policeman from the August to December 2006, or a total of P2,500 each.
Camp Crame officials also reassured the members of the augmentation police force that their firearms will be arriving “in due time.”
Around 100 new policemen assigned in Mandaue do not have PNP-issued firearms.
They informed Lapeña that, so far, they have been getting their salaries on time.
As for the patrol cars and motorcycles, Lapeña said these will be distributed to the different police regional offices after the summit.
In Lapu-Lapu City, Lapeña told the new policemen detailed there that they are not there only for the Asean summit, but to help with crime prevention.
Lapu-Lapu City Police Chief Louie Oppus said that Lapeña is grateful for the ideas that the local police teach the new policemen on field training.
More forces
Right before the official left the station, three new Toyota Altis patrol cars arrived. These will be used for the summit.
Oppus said the cars were borrowed from the PRO 7 and these will be returned after the summit. They already got four motorcycles, also on loan from the regional office, months ago.
Oppus is requesting PRO 7 for one more car as they are short of mobility, with only 11 four-wheel vehicles on hand before the arrival of the borrowed cars.
Oppus had the new cars blessed by Lapu-Lapu City parish priest Fr. Bob Villanueva in the afternoon.
The Lapu-Lapu City Government has set aside P10 million from its calamity funds for the policemen’s monthly P1,000 allowance from September to December.
So far, 518 policemen from Central Mindanao and Western Visayas are now detailed in Lapu-Lapu City. It has the biggest police augmentation force among the cities in Metro Cebu that will jointly host the Asean summit. (ROV/OCP)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (September 22, 2006 issue)
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