Take care of new guns, cars, Danao tells police officers

PNP chief Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. Image courtesy of PNP Public Information Office

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. has called on police officers to take care of the equipment procured by the government and those donated by partners, saying that the younger generation of officers is very lucky to have brand new guns and vehicles.

During the turnover of the equipment at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame on Tuesday, Danao said that he and his fellow senior officials had to use faulty equipment — an issue that younger generations of police officers would not have to go through.

“May I just request also, and I’m addressing this to all units ano, to all officers and men who will be recipients of these vehicles, of this equipment, of these armaments, lalong-lalo na ‘yong mga baril (especially the guns).  Kung makikita niyo napaka-gagandang baril sa totoo lang (If you can see, these guns are really beautiful),” the acting PNP chief said.

“How we wish that when we were at a younger age eh ganito ‘yong hawak namin ni Cadet Rhodel. Unfortunately ‘yong hawak namin no’ng una, ‘pag pinutok mo akala mo double tap, ‘di ba?  ‘Yon ‘yong mga equipment na inabutan namin no’ng una eh,” he added.

(How we wish that when we were at a younger age Cadet Rhodel and I was holding these firearms, unfortunately, what we had back then when you fire it, you would think you just did a double-tap.  That’s the kind of equipment that we had before.)

Danao said that they had to use bullets that either went wide or sideways when fired — creating huge holes on the target board even if they only fired one shot.

“‘Pag pinutok mo sa target board akala mo naka-double tap ka.  Kasi bakit kamo?  Eh ang laki ng butas, you know why?  Because pabalabag ‘yong bala, so ‘yon ‘yong mga naabutan naming equipment no’ng una.  Kaya napaka-seswerte ng ating young generation for having these equipment, these firearms, brand new,” he said.

(When you fire it and look at the target board you’ll think you did a double-tap.  Why?  Because the bullet hole is so huge, the bullet went sideways.  That’s why the younger generation is very lucky to have these types of equipment, these firearms, brand new.)

“Sana lang itong mga Negev na ito, pagdating namin ng 10 years after, ‘pag bibisita kami ni Cadet Rhodel sa mga different stations, different units, eh nandyan pa.  Hindi sa kalaban ah?  Nandyan pa rin, buo, so I am requesting the members of the PNP, especially for those who will be receiving the vehicles, please alagaan niyo naman,” he added.

(I wish that these Negev, when we visit different stations and units after 10 years, are still there.  Not on the hands of the enemy, but still with the PNP, complete and functioning.  So I am requesting the PNP members, especially those who will be receiving the vehicles, please take care of it.)

He also called for the proper maintenance of vehicles that would be assigned to different units of the PNP.

“Alam niyo ang sikreto lang naman ng vehicles natin napaka-simple, constant change oil, parang tayo lang ‘di ba?  You have to change oil from time to time okay, kasi kung hindi ka magche-change oil, ‘yong tuhod mo magkakaroon ‘yan ng arthritis, mahihirapan ka nang tumakbo, mahirapan kang lumakad.  So gano’n din sa vehicle, we need to have a constant maintenance for that matter,” Danao said.

(You know the secret to maintaining vehicles is very simple, it’s just constant oil change.  Like us humans, we have to change oil from time to time because we would have problems on our joints if we don’t do that, you won’t be able to run or walk.  So the same applies to vehicles, we need to have constant maintenance for that matter.)

During Tuesday’s program, several firearms purchased by the government — including those through a government-to-government transaction (G2G) with Israel — were turned over and inspected by PNP’s top officials.

Among the items present were the following:

• for National Support Units: 16 units brand new Nissan van (from MGM Motor Trading Inc.)
• for PNP training institute and Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA): 3 units light transport vehicle (from Toyota Quezon Avenue)
• for PNP recruits and PNPA graduates: 8,358 units 9mm Girsan striker-fired pistol (from Joint Venture of Nashe Enterprises and Girsan Makina in Turkey)
• for PNP mobile forces: 8,500 units 5.56 Galil basic assault rifle (G2G, Joint Venture of Espineli and Israel Weapon Industries Ltd.) and 620 units autogated night vision device (from MKU Ltd. of India)
• for PNP maritime group: 34 units 7.62 mm Negev light machine gun (G2G, Joint Venture of Espineli and Israel Weapon Industries Ltd.)
• for EOD-K9 group: 45 units explosive detector dogs (from Zemog K-9 Training Center Incorporated)
• for police stations: 5,298 units all purpose vest, undershirt vest (from Joint Venture Jiangsu Zhongyi Special Fiber Co. Ltd.)

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