Technology and the police

At the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel's Tuesday Club this week, PNP Chief Hermogenes Ebdane proudly talked about his text messaging program. It is, he said, a good way of getting citizens involved in the peace and order drive of government. I might add, it makes sense too in the light of the Pinoy’s fascination with this communication technology. The police can’t be everywhere, but who can beat millions of ordinary citizens working with the police as its eyes and ears to keep the peace?

The discussion over the breakfast table reminded me of what Sen. Serge Osmeña once said about his attitude towards the police budget. The senator said that he was willing to support moves to allocate sufficient funds to bring the PNP into the information age. The senator was thinking in terms of a reliable computer database of criminal records accessible though on-line computers in every precinct outpost in the country.

Considering that police officers still bring their own typewriting and carbon paper and still use museum-ready Underwoods in filing their reports, the dream of Senator Serge is quite a hopeful one. Yet, he is right. The efficiency of the police in the peace and order drive of government can be vastly improved by technology. It will still take quite a while to have an on-line computer in every police precinct but at least, the text strategy of General Ebdane is an affordable first step by way of a technology upgrade from merely screaming.

Winning the public’s trust and confidence is still the most basic pre-requisite in the PNP’s effort to recover lost ground in the war against crime. While nothing will beat a top-to-bottom screening of PNP officers to assure that only the most honest, capable and dedicated are entrusted with a badge and a gun, I imagine every little bit helps. Gen. Ebdane promised that every text message would not only be read by a responsible officer, he also assures follow-ups until positive results are generated.

It is interesting to note that since the text program was launched last Jan. 1, citizens have responded to the program with gusto. They have been texting messages not only to request assistance but also to denounce abusive cops, report illegal gambling, report illegal drugs, congratulate work well done and unfortunately to send them on wild goose chases with prank text messages.

The important psychological benefit of the program is that now, citizens have a means by which they can reach the police higher ups. If, through the next few months, the text program gets a reputation of delivering results, increased citizen cooperation with police programs can be generated. Best of all, people will start to trust the police once again.

But technology is just a means to an end. No matter how popular the technology might be, the program will fail if the police organization is not cleansed of the misfits in their ranks. The civil service law on security of tenure must be relaxed to give the PNP leadership more power to discipline so that they can take full responsibility for the men and women on the force. Technology is nothing if not utilized by people who not only know its technical aspects but more important how to harness it to serve the people.

Post office thieves

Remember the stolen money orders deposited in a BPI branch in Pangasinan? Well, Art Tanty, the victim whose complaint I published, wrote me a long e-mail to report that he got his money back in a suspicious sort of way. He said he got a call from a Chinoy whose last name is Lim to meet him somewhere in Mayhaligue St. (I suppose that’s the one in Sta. Cruz, Manila?). Lim paid him his $273 in cash, claiming he got those money orders from a customer named Grace.

Lim said he is paying Art his $273 out of goodwill, and also to take the heat away from the BPI branch manager who was just doing him a favor. Jesus V. Razon, SVP of BPI also sent me an e-mail to confirm that Art had been paid back by this Mr. Lim. Art is happy he has his money but he still thinks the problem is far from being properly addressed by BPI, BAP and the BSP. I agree with him.

I think this case proves that the people who profit from thievery at the postal service use the banking system for their evil purpose. For starters, BPI should conduct an internal investigation on how this thing was made possible. There are likely other cases. I am not ready to merely accept the assurances of Mr. Razon that "BPI is known in the industry for having one of the strictest systems regarding second-endorsed checks."

For one thing, that strict system is apparently, not good enough. It simply didn’t work in this case and I understand, also in another case involving BPI’s Quezon Avenue branch. The victim in this case is a certain Vic Yap, and according to Mr. Tanty, was an even earlier case than his, and more unfortunate because he remains holding an empty bag. Can Mr. Razon give a personal assurance that puts his job on the line that henceforth, no more such cases will happen in the BPI system?

When I brought the problem up to BSP Governor Paeng Buenaventura, he too was very much concerned. He should be. This is why Paeng said, he "asked our supervision people to see what we can do." More important, the BSP chief pointed out that "the encashment of 2nd endorsed check is the responsibility of the encashing bank and should be held liable." Tio Paeng said he would ask for a dialogue with bank presidents on this but wants his BSP staff to come up with suggestions and agreements with banks to correct the system.

Let me give one suggestion. Maybe the banks should stop accepting second endorsed checks and money orders from money changers. The criminals who pilfer checks from the mail apparently use the money changers and the money changers use the banks. That is an obvious fault in the system. This is the only way otherwise honorable banks like BPI can rightfully claim that it does not allow criminals to use their system.

Once they give in to one "valuable" client, as BPI did in Pangasinan, the whole system becomes part of a criminal operation. If this were a drug abuse case, BPI would have been an unwitting pusher. What is so difficult in telling a client that though the bank values his or her business, the bank can’t accept second endorsed checks and money orders as a matter of principle? I am sure BPI won’t lose its premier position in the industry if it does this.

It is bad enough that the banking system, as in the Land Bank Binangonan branch, was used by syndicates that stole billions of pesos in tax payments to the BIR. Now we have this case of the banking system being used by mail thieves to carry on their criminal activities. Enough is enough. We must not make it easy for criminals to carry on with their nefarious business as usual. The BAP and the BSP must work on this problem right away.

Mistakes

The obituary editor of a newspaper was not one to admit his mistakes easily.

One day he got a phone call from an enraged subscriber. The caller complained that his name had been printed in the obituary column.

"Really?" replied the editor coolly. "And where are you calling from?"

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]