City gov’t continues to pour support to ICPO
City Mayor Jerry Treñas is fulfilling its commitment to support the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) as the city government is set to purchase 28 firearms and five patrol cars early this year.
Treñas said the procurement of the firearms and the five back-to-back patrol cars is still subject for a bidding process. As soon as the bidding is conducted, purchases will soon be made in order to fully equip the city police.
The city government has been taking steps in addressing the deficiency of the city police in terms of firearms, vehicles, gasoline and human resources. Every year, the city government has been allocating budget for the city police.
The city’s continuing support to the police continues amid insinuations that the city’s different district police chiefs received cash gifts from former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. last December.
Aside from firearms and vehicles, the city government has assigned some job-hire employees to the different police stations and hired police auxiliaries as force multiplier to the current number of policemen.
The city government is eyeing to buy the firearms specifically .45 caliber pistols and back-to-back patrol cars before the 2010 Dinagyang festival. However, there are procedures that should be observed, said Treñas.
Last week, 20 pieces of .45 caliber pistol were delivered by Armscor to the city government. The procurement of the said firearms was taken from the 2009 budget. The firearms were bought at a factory price which is P18,000 per unit.
Treñas accepted the firearms in the presence of ICPO director Sr. Supt. Melvin Mongcal and the chiefs of police Friday morning in his office.
The chief executive said the decision on the distribution of the firearms depends on the city director. He is not dipping his hand on what police station gets the most number of firearms.
