Wednesday, October 25, 2006
62% of cops in RP are impoverished: interior chief (4:35 p.m.)
MANILA -- Six out of 10 policemen in the country live in poverty, with most of them forced to reside in squatters’ shanties because of their meager salaries, contrary to the perception that many policemen have enriched themselves because of their positions, according to Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno.
On top of not having their own homes, Puno said most of the 74,000 policemen cannot even send their children to school.
He noted that the number of homeless policemen is highest in Northern Mindanao (68 percent), the Cordillera Administrative Region (66 percent), Central Visayas (66 percent), Eastern Visayas (62 percent) and Metro Manila (62 percent).
The sorry situation of 62 percent of the country’s 120,000-strong police force is the reason why Puno has supported the program of PNP Chief Oscar Calderon to make housing for policemen the flagship project on his watch.
“Our policemen risk their lives each day to keep our homes and streets safe and yet most of them cannot even lead decent lives,” Puno said. “Helping them own a home would go a long way in improving their plight and keeping them away from the temptation of resorting to corrupt acts to make ends meet,” he added. |
