Basngi ignores criticisms vs mobile unit
There will always be resistance to change, said Iloilo City Police Office chief, Senior Supt. Dennis Basngi, on the criticisms hurled at the creation of the Iloilo City Mobile Patrol Unit.
The newly-created unit will have administrative and operational control of patrol operations within the ICPO’s area of responsibility.
Considered on the same level as the Iloilo City Public Safety Management Company and the Traffic Management and Engineering Unit, the 80-men unit will be headed by Chief Insp. Orly Gabinete, along with Insp. Gervenson Muyo as deputy chief.
Its personnel, who are mostly assigned at the patrol section, were taken from ICPO’s six different police stations.
As its name suggests, the MPU is tasked to conduct patrols to primarily boost the ICPO’s anti-criminality efforts.
From the usual patrol within a certain district, MPU personnel will have a bigger playing field – all of Iloilo City. But the task of case investigation still stays with the police station where the incident occurred
Basngi said the unit is not “new” because other areas in the country have their own MPUs.
In fact, there was an order from the higher headquarters for the creation of such, he added.
“However, it was not activated in Iloilo City,” Basngi said.
There are criticisms that the unit was prematurely created because it lacks the necessary personnel, equipment, and logistics.
But Basngi brushed off these claims, saying they would have to use the existing logistics of the patrol units.
“Actually, these criticisms come from police personnel themselves who don’t want to go out of their comfort zones. Ayaw nilang namo-monitor sila kaya mas gusto nila sa mga police stations na lang sila kasi pwedeng patambay-tambay lang sila doon (They don’t want to be monitored, that’s why they want to stay in the police stations where they can just loiter around)” the ICPO chief said.
Basngi said he has received reports of several policemen asking village leaders to ask Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to retain them in the police stations.
“But gone are the days that they could just sit back and relax. At this point, we could not afford to let crimes happen but we should actively do patrols to pre-empt them from happening,” Basngi said.
Meanwhile, Gabinete expressed readiness to assume his new role as MPU chief, although he will have to leave the country soon to join a UN Peacekeeping Mission.
