Recto: PNP prioritized P0.5M dogs over body cams

MANILA, Philippines —  Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Tuesday said that the Philippine National Police could have acquired body cameras it could use in its anti-drug operations if it prioritized these over half-a-million-peso bomb-sniffing dogs.

According to Recto, the police omitted the body cameras in their request despite the public clamor for cops to wear them during sting operations and chose instead to procure 48 bomb-sniffing dogs which cost P511,672 each.

Recto said that Congress authorized P334 million in the 2018 national budget for the police to acquire new body cameras which could be worn during their operations.

He urged Camp Crame to expedite the procurement of the cameras and check other items that the police would need for its operations, as budgets for these were already programmed in this year’s General Appropriations Act.

“There’s also P100 million for CCTVs. Also up for procurement are 160 cars, 308 motorcycles, 20 special purpose vehicles, 19 boats, 10,000 sidearms, 5,000 long firearms, among other capital outlay items,” Recto added.

The PNP on Monday relaunched its “knock and plead” anti-illegal drugs campaign which was severely hounded in the past by allegations of human rights abuses by cops.

In relaunching the campaign, locally known as “Oplan Tokhan,” the PNP adjusted its guidelines and provided fresh directives to cops as they conducted President Rodrigo Duterte’s flagship anti-drugs campaign.

Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo) said that the adjustments in the campaign showed that it used a “flawed” strategy when it began.

“We welcome the adjustments made, and hope that these will be strictly implemented; however, we do not fail to recognize the damage the previous version of Tokhang has done,” Alejano said, adding that modifications should have been done long ago.

He said that people should remain critical of the program which he said was still Tokhang “after all.”

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Recto said that the PNP had P132.3 billion budget for 2018, and more than 86 percent of this would go to the pay and allowances of its 181,355 personnel.

Recto said that P1.9 billion of the close to P5.6 billion allotted for police modernization was released in August last year by the Department of Budget and Management based on the purchase list by the PNP.

He said that the amount would be utilized to buy machine guns, boats, motorcycles, anti-riot gear, body vests and dogs. However, it seemed that body cameras were forgotten, according to the senator.

“Hopefully, bodycams were included in subsequent releases, if there were. By September, may balanse pa na P3.7 billion doon sa P5.6 B na pondo for police modernization,” Recto said.

“If they were not able to buy bodycams for the rest of 2017, they should prioritize the P334 million for cameras already included in the 2018 budget. They should prove that they act fast in the purchase of their equipment,” he said.

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Alejano urged authorities to adopt a more comprehensive approach in solving the drug problem by flagging illegal drugs at their source.

“If this administration truly wants to eradicate illegal drugs in the country, adjustments on its policy should also be made to address this aspect of the problem,” the opposition lawmaker said.