A carless force

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Last week, policemen from Police Station 2 were not able to arrest a man who robbed a taxi driver of his cash collection and carnapped his taxi because they did not have a patrol car. Despite being under-equipped, the policemen who responded to the incident still tried their best by flagging down another taxicab in order to be able to give chase to the suspect.

According to Station 2 chief Senior Insp. Lester Leada, they have been unable to properly respond to crime incidents because of the lack of a working vehicle. It was also discovered that, aside from Police Station 2, Police Stations 4, 5 and 6 also have no patrol cars.

The Bacolod City Police Office was recently stymied in its bid to purchase six Foton vehicles as patrol cars as they were considered “under powered” by the Bacolod City Bids and Awards Committee. Committee chair Goldwyn Nifras has assured the BCPO that they could have patrol cars before the year ends as long as there are qualified bidders after the invitation to bid is published. If the bidders follow the specifications, it is estimated that the P3.5 million budget allocation for patrol cars will be enough for only 4 patrol cars instead of the 6 that was originally planned.

Hopefully the BCPO and the City government can work together to purchase proper patrol cars as soon as possible because a busy city like Bacolod cannot have its policemen hailing taxicabs or even tricycles every time they need to respond to an incident or give chase to criminals. We also pray that if those new patrol cars do arrive, that their users and custodians are provided with resources, the skill, and the capacity to properly use and maintain those vehicles so that policemen, as well as the community, will get to reap the benefits of having a patrol car for as long as possible. If these new patrol cars are to be useful, there will have to be enough fuel. If they are to be useful for a long time, they will have to be operated and maintained properly and not allowed to fall into disrepair as soon as they are turned over.

Just as this problem did not happen overnight, the solution will not come with the approval of the bids and the delivery of the new patrol cars. If the government and police officials involved still do nothing to ensure that government assets are used and maintained properly, we can safely predict that our current embarrassing situation will replicate itself within a few years. Let’s hope that the people in charge are aware of this problem and are actually doing more than just ordering new patrol cars but also instituting changes that will ensure that what is happening today will never happen again.*