Cop reassigned, probed over papal fund mess

MANILA, Philippines - For speaking on his failure to receive a single centavo from the supposed P2,400 allowance for police officers deployed during Pope Francis’ visit, a police official was given a new assignment yesterday.

Chief Inspector Erwin Eco of the Regional Police Holding Administrative Unit (RPHAU) at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig was transferred to the Northern Police District (NPD) on orders of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Carmelo Valmoria.

Valmoria said Eco would also be investigated for airing his grievances in television and radio interviews instead of informing the NCRPO’s grievance committee.

“He should have gone to the proper venue where his complaints would be properly addressed,” Valmoria said.

Eco had been assigned at the Southern Police District but was transferred to RPHAU due to the complaints against him by business establishments in Pasay and Makati cities.

Earlier, the NCRPO chief explained that the five police district directors were given funds for their personnel’s allowances during the pontiff’s visit, but instead of distributing cash, they opted to hand out food packs to prevent deployed policemen from getting hungry and leaving their posts.

Valmoria stressed that he assigned Eco to the NPD where he could render service to the public, instead of giving him the boot by assigning him to police units in far-flung areas.

Valmoria instructed NPD director Chief Superintendent Jonathan Miano to monitor Eco’s activities and prevent him from airing anew his complaints through media interviews.

For his part, Miano said yesterday there was no monetary allowance for NPD personnel deployed during the papal visit but they were given food.

“Some of our men got their food through the efforts of the MPD (Manila Police District),” Miano told The STAR.

Several NPD officers had earlier complained that they did not receive allowances unlike their counterparts in other police districts.

They said some were even given stale food during their deployment.

Miano said he was informed of the complaints but could not do anything because “we have no budget for their papal visit duty.”

A police chief from the Camanava (Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela) area, who asked not to be named, confirmed that there was no budget allotted for the deployed personnel and some of them had to shell out their own money to assist fellow officers.

“The other police districts that gave their personnel allowances got the money from their own budget. Maybe they got it from their resources. Our policemen should not blame the district director for this,” he said.

As for the stale food, the police chief said meals were distributed in styrofoam boxes and could have been spoiled due to the duration of preparation and distribution.

He admitted that there were indeed NPD personnel who were not given food rations during their papal duty.

“It was not the intention of the NPD leadership to starve their men, but these things happen and it gives an impression that we are not taking care of our people,” he said.– With Rey Galupo