"O, gamitin n’yo na ’yan nang di na kayo nakakantiyawan ng media," said Varilla in jest as he personally handed over the set consisting of a central processing unit (CPU), a monitor, a printer and power regulator. The set was donated by the management of the Malabon Citisquare, a mall located on Letre Road corner Dagat-Dagatan Avenue in Malabon City.
Varilla also reminded Guevarra’s men that with the new set, the public will be expecting an even better performance from them and told them they should be up to the public’s expectation.
Senior Superintendent Moises Guevarra, city police chief, said Varilla, who, for a brief time served as Northern Police District (NPD) chief in acting capacity and as NPD director for operations some three years back, promised to give additional computer units to the Malabon police as a reward for being one of the best performing police stations in Metro Manila.
Varilla’s quick response came as a great relief to Malabon police investigators who had to deal with an estimated five to eight reports (at an average of three pages per report) on cases they had to handle daily.
The Malabon investigation unit has a full complement of 13 investigators divided into three shifts. Before, investigators had to "fight" for the use of a rundown Olympia, a piece salvaged from City Hall five years ago.
The computer set they were previously using, which had seen better days, was the result of a story made by The STAR in December last year about the same problem. The printer had much earlier conked out on them.
When this happened, they were forced to use the only computer at the office of the Malabon police chief, courtesy of Guevarra.
There was also a time prior to this when the barangay tanods of Potrero were even better off than the police when it came to computers.
Watchmen of Barangay Potrero boasted of a computer set, including a webcam, but the investigators of the Station Investigation and Detection Management Section (SIDMS) of the Malabon City Police Station have virtually nothing to speak of, they said.
There were times when the paper work would take some three to four hours before they are finished.
The public had been complaining of irritating delays. This, while recognizing that it was not because the police cared less, but that simply there was a critical lack of equipment for the needed paper work.
"Hindi kulang sa serbisyo ang mga pulis. Kulang lang ang gamit. Mamatay-matay sa inis ang mga complainants sa tagal ng pag-aantay. Lalo na kung mag-i-inquest," a complainant told The STAR. Adding to the investigators’ burden is the fact that the Women’s and Children’s Desk (WCD), a separate unit consisting of five personnel, is also queuing up just to use the unit’s lone typewriter, they told The STAR.
"Pumipila rin sila dito," one cop said. To this day, the WCD has yet to possess its very own computer set.
A barangay Potrero watchman was assisting complainants in the filing of charges before the police investigation unit when chanced upon by The STAR days ago.
"Mabuti pa pala kami. Yung isang computer, sa amin (tanod) lang talaga," said the source adding that the five computers at the barangay hall were bought out of available barangay funds.
"At may webcam pa. Pag may huli, kuha na agad namin," the source said. — With Pete Laude