Friday, May 30, 2008 CV cops eye seized cars for operations
SINCE there isn’t a warehouse to store seized smuggled cars, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 may ask the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to donate these vehicles to address the police’s lack of mobility.
PRO 7 Director Ronald Roderos told reporters yesterday that this was one of the topics discussed in Wednesday’s Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC).
He pointed out that since the BOC warehouse burned, seized vehicles are not stored properly and are exposed to the elements.
Donation
Since the lack of police vehicles is always a problem for most police offices and stations, Roderos said they plan to request the BOC to donate the seized vehicles instead.
Also, during the meeting, the need for coordination among law enforcement agencies was raised.
This concern was brought up following incidents wherein the police received reports of kidnapping but these turned out to be agents from other agencies.
Most recently, there were reports involving agents from the Bureau of Immigration (BI) last month.
The first report was when two Indian nationals were picked up in Boljoon town, sending citizens to report to the police about a kidnapping incident in the middle of the town market.
Police in Santander had intercepted them and learned they were agents of the BI picking up the two Indians who did not have proper documents.
After that, a Korean couple was picked up in Banilad, Cebu City, that sent police checking on another kidnapping report. Their “abductors” also turned out to be BI agents.
Senior Supt. Carmelo Valmoria, Cebu Provincial Police Office director, said that if the agency did not want to inform them before conducting operations for confidential reasons, they could always tell them after the operation has been conducted.
Communication
“We must be informed. Like what happened in Boljoon, we thought it was a kidnapping. We informed another unit to intercept them,” Valmoria explained.
He said that if they could not inform the provincial or city director, they could always inform the regional director.
Roderos, though, said that no one from the BI was able to attend the meeting and that they will just have to discuss the matter next quarter.
Though they have already sent their concerns to the BI, Roderos said it was better to discuss it through the RLECC so that formal discussion can be made. (MEA)
