Friday, April 25, 2008 City won’t hike cops’ allowances yet
INCREASING the policemen’s P1,000 monthly honorarium is not possible at this time, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said, but the City Government will try to work on a housing project for them.
Osmeña said he has long wanted to increase the City’s incentive for Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) personnel but an existing Department of Budget and Management (DBM) circular does not allow it.
During the City Council session last Wednesday, Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. asked the council’s help in increasing the allowances of some 1,000 city policemen.
He also proposed that the City extends legal, medical and housing aid to the policemen, majority of whom are renting houses or rooms in the city.
“We can’t increase the incentive allowance of the policemen. I tried to, I already looked into that before but there’s a DBM circular that sets a limit to the allowances of the police. The DBM secretary said that if they allow it, it will put a heavy strain on all local government units,” Osmeña said.
Highlights
In last Wednesday’s session, CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador briefed the councilors on the peace and order situation in the city. Among other things, the lack of policemen was highlighted in the discussions.
Instead of the ideal one is to 200 policeman-population ratio, there is only one policeman for every 800 Cebu City residents at present.
Despite the shortage, which the City has experienced even during his first term as mayor, Osmeña said he does not plan to ask the Police Regional Office for additional policemen. There were only 800 policemen during his first term in 1988.
“I’m presuming they are distributing the policemen equitably, but we lack policemen from the very outset... We still have the same number of policemen now but their effectiveness is maybe three times,” he said.
To cope with the problem, Osmeña said programs on peace and order have been implemented, such as improvements in the mobility and communication facilities of the police force.
Barangay tanods, volunteer groups like the Parish Security Group and the Oplan Pakigsandurot have been mobilized.
Oplan Pakigsandurot is a program that strengthens police and community relations, with barangay officials and tanods working with the police to address peace and order problems.
Beneficiaries
As for the housing aid, Osmeña assured that City Hall is concentrating on improving its collection efficiency, especially in collecting the payments of urban poor housing beneficiaries so the City can use the funds for other housing projects that can benefit the policemen.
He warned that the City would be forced to cut off the electricity and water connections of beneficiaries who have not been paying their dues, so policemen can have their share of housing projects. (LCR)
