40,000 cops nationwide still members of ‘gunless society’

No guns, no gas, no glory?

At least one-third or 40,000 policemen in the 113,000-strong Philippine National Police (PNP) force have no service firearms, acting chief Deputy Director General Leandro Mendoza said yesterday.

Mendoza lamented yesterday that policemen not only have to worry about maintaining peace and order in the country, they also have to worry about guns and gas.

He said budgetary problems are preventing the PNP from procuring 9-mm. Berretta automatic hand guns.

The delay in the release of the budget has also immobilized some policemen as their gasoline allocations were cut down to 10 liters a day per police officer.

Early this month, operations chief Director Cecilio Penilla suspended the operations of the Petron gasoline station inside Camp Crame due to the PNP’s P90-million debt allegedly incurred during the term of Director General Panfilo Lacson.

Penilla has virtually rationed fuel to the cops, allowing policemen to refill their vehicles only from 7 to 9 a.m. daily, compared to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the past.

Mendoza said the PNP has yet to receive its funds from the Department of Budget and Management.

"The delay in the release of the budget has caused this. But we already received a notice for cash allotment for the gas expenditures," the police chief said.

Meanwhile, Mendoza blamed the rise in criminal activities to so-called "crimogenic factors." Mendoza coined the term from the factors which lead to crime, including sociological, political, cultural and economic factors.

Mendoza claimed that statistics show that incidents of crime were lower during the first quarter of the year compared to the same period last year. He admitted that carnap incidents have risen in Metro Manila, but cases of kidnap-for-ransom and bank robberies are lower this year.

Mendoza expressed optimism that controversial cases such as the Nov. 24 abduction of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Manuel Corbito, the Dec. 30 bombings and the murder of left-wing leader Felimon "Popoy" Lagman will be solved in due time.

Police have yet to arrest the perpetrators of the March 8 kidnap-slay of University of the Philippines (UP) students Gian Carlo Leung and Tihani Tingal and the rape and murder of La Salle graduate Claudine Mabel Feliciano last March 13.

"We cannot just file charges against the suspects in these cases. We are still gathering enough evidence to indict the suspects," Mendoza explained. – Christina Mendez