Pangasinan cops open ‘honesty store’ to ditch trust issues

UNMANNED The honesty store is at a corner of the Villasis town police station and caters to policemen and their guests. —Contributed

VILLASIS, PANGASINAN—To build the trust of residents in the police force, policemen in this town have put up an “honesty store” that they hope would be replicated elsewhere in the province.

The store, situated at a corner of the police station here, is open 24 hours and caters not only to police personnel but also to their guests.

“Honesty is an important virtue in police operations and through the store, we can show that policemen can be trusted,” Police Maj. Fernando Fernandez Jr., the town’s police chief, told the Inquirer.

With an initial capital of P3,000 from the police’s maintenance and other operating expenses, the store began to operate two months ago but was formally launched on Oct. 8.

Healthy stuff

Among its goods are “healthy stuff” that help policemen maintain a “ketogenic” (low carbohydrate, high fat) diet, Fernandez said.

Also available are soya milk, light sugar sodas and zero-sweetener energy drinks, which are kept in a refrigerator.

Noodles, coffee, chips and peanuts are sold, too.

A price list is posted on a product shelf and customers can drop their payment in a box. Coins and smaller bills are also readily available in the box in case a customer needs loose change.

But if the store runs out of change, customers can write in a notebook the amount they placed in the box and they can get their change later.

Credit allowed

Credit is also allowed for those who can make payments when they get their salaries.

“The store is slowly growing, so we know that our policemen are practicing honesty,” Fernandez said.

He added: “We have only 35 policemen in the town. Even if only one of us is not honest, our little store will go bankrupt. Nakakahiya (It’s embarrassing).”

Fernandez said the finance officer would collect the money in the box every afternoon and replenish the stocks for the following day.

“Whatever amount we can earn from our store will be used for our community relations projects. Even if we earn only P500, we will use it to prepare lugaw ( rice porridge) for our feeding program in the communities,” he said.

Elsewhere in the province, eight honesty stores have been launched in select schools to instill the value of honesty and introduce financial management among students.