PNP procures P1.48 billion vehicles, equipment

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has acquired P1.48 billion worth of equipment to boost the capabilities of police units in anti-criminality operations.

The PNP procured 44 light transport vehicles, 120 armored personnel carriers, 203 patrol jeeps, 5,755 units of 5.565 basic assault rifles, at least five million rounds of ammunition, 949 enhanced combat helmets, 2,825 undershirt all-purpose vests and 959 tactical all-purpose vests.

“They are the instruments that empower us to effectively fulfill our duty to protect and serve the Filipino people,” PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda said in a statement yesterday.

Acorda noted that the equipment was funded through the Capability Enhancement Programs for 2022 and 2023.

He reminded police officers to use the equipment judiciously, responsibly and following the highest standards of professionalism.

Acorda led the presentation and blessing of the equipment at Camp Crame on Oct. 2.

Impunity

Meanwhile, Senators JV Ejercito and Risa Hontiveros yesterday recalled the PNP’s culture of impunity and trigger-happy attitude following recent incidents of questionable police raids and deadly hot pursuit operations.

During Senate committee deliberations into the proposed 2024 budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and its attached agencies, Hontiveros cited the murder cases filed against six Navotas police officers for shooting Jerhode Baltazar, 17, in a botched operation on Aug. 2.

“With the unnecessary lethal force used in the case of Jemboy, there seems to be a shoot-first policy in police operations, which counters the police operational procedures on the use of force continuum,” Hontiveros said.

Ejercito showed a video of a June 17 search warrant operation against Mabini, Batangas Mayor Nilo Villanueva and his two brothers for alleged possession of firearms and explosives.

There were indications in the video that the evidence was planted as a grenade allegedly recovered was placed near the pillow on the bed of the mayor’s father, he noted.

“Who in their right mind would hide a grenade near a pillow?” Ejercito said in Filipino.

“Although we fund the PNP, we deserve an explanation. We do not want a culture of impunity to continue. We have to change what happened during the previous administration,” he added, referring to abuses committed during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs that left thousands dead. – Marc Jayson Cayabyab