Mayor Tomas Osmeña may not approve the request of the city to buy additional protective gear for the policemen, unless the police can prove that they will use them not only as decorations in their offices.
Osmeña said the Cebu City Police Office personnel have protective gear such as bullet proof vests they can use during operations, although he acknowledged that there are only a few of these.
But the mayor said some policemen are not using issued bullet-proof vests because they are not comfortable always wearing them.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama, chairman of the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council, is planning to ask the mayor to buy more protective gear for the police through Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. funds.
After PO1 Noriel Luage was killed two weeks ago by the person he was ordered to arrest, some policemen in the city wanted to be issued bullet-proof vests.
A ballistic vest or bullet-proof vest is an armor that absorbs the impact from gun-fired projectiles and explosive fragments.
Soft vests are made from layers of tightly-women fibers that will protect those who wear it from projectiles fired from handguns, shotgun and shrapnels from explosives.
Other kinds of vests have metal or ceramic plates that can protect wearers from shots fired from rifles. Soft vest are commonly worn by police and some private citizens, while the hard-plate reinforced vests are usually worn by combat soldiers.
While a vest can prevent bullet wounds, the wearer still absorbs the bullet’s energy, which can cause blunt force trauma and the impact can still cause severe internal injuries.
The prices of bullet proof vests varies from each other depending on its quality, but quality bullet-proof vests are usually worth as much as P50,000 or more. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP