3 cops in body camera procurement mess dismissed from service

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge has officially signed the dismissal order of three cops who were involved in the extortion of bidders of the P334 million worth of body cameras being procured by police.

Dismissed were Majors Emerson Sales and Rholly Caraggayan, who are now both on Awol (Absent Without Official Leave) status, and Major Angel Beros, who is still in active service.

"Of course, they have 10 days to appeal my decision..., but what do you expect di ba? After that they can appeal at the national appellate board,” said PNP officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Archie Francisco Gamboa.

"As I promised, we will be transparent to those who are answerable especially to those who are corrupt. They e will be dismissed swiftly as fast as we could. But of course, we also award those who did good in the service," he added.

Earlier, Gamboa said they found out about the three police officers' illegal activities through a losing bidder who claimed to have paid P5 million to the policemen as a guarantee that they will get the contract.

Gamboa said he already ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to file criminal charges against the three erring cops who were all members of the PNP Bids and Awards Committee technical working group.

Meanwhile, he said they are working double time to finish the bidding process of body cameras by the end of 2019 for the sake of the budget, which will expire by January 1.

He said there were five suppliers currently undergoing post-qualification to ensure they meet all the requirements, including accessories, video management software, computer servers, storage and connectivity systems for the body cameras.

Gamboa previously said that the PNP was eyeing to use 3,000 units of body cameras by second or third quarter in 2020.

"The PNP will not only procure body cameras but a sophisticated, reliable, and secure system which will allow complete system management, real-time, live streaming, data storage, and backup and overall connectivity and monitoring," he said.

He said a central data center, a National Management and Monitoring Center, 17 Regional Monitoring Centers, and 81 Provincial Monitoring Centers will be built to support the systems of body cameras. (SunStar Philippines)