Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. check out the newly acquired vehicles of the PNP in Camp Crame on Monday, June 20, 2021. With him are the mayors of the towns in Aurora that will be given the vehicles. (Photo from the Facebook account of the PNP)
MANILA, Philippines — “Please take good care of our vehicles,” Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police (PNP), urged his officers in a speech on Monday as they received 11 more new vehicles in Camp Crame.
The vehicles will be used by several police units in Aurora province. They were procured for P35.30 million through the Congress-introduced Increase in Appropriation for the Fiscal Year 2021, which was sponsored by Senators Sonny Angara and Imee Marcos.
“It’s only once in a while that we get very good vehicles. “I just hope that those vehicles would be able to last for more than five years, or maybe more than six years,” Danao said, speaking in a mix of Filipino and English.
He acknowledged that vehicles would naturally suffer wear and tear through the years. But he said proper maintenance would make them last longer.
The vehicles turned over to the PNP consisted of eight Toyota Hilux 4×4 pickups, which were converted into personnel carriers each equipped with an electric winch, and three Toyota Innova light transport vehicles.
The eight personnel carries will be given to municipal stations in Aurora — namely in Baler, Dingalan, Casiguran, Dipaculao, Dilasag, Maria Aurora, Dinalungan, and San Luis, according to Maj. Gen. Ronaldo Olay, PNP director for logistics and also the chair of the Bids and Awards Committee.
A total of 11 new vehicles, acquired through congressional appropriation, were turned over to the PNP on June 20, 2021. Sen. Sonny Angara, who could not attend the event, was represented by Aurora Lone District Rep. Rommel Rico Angara. (Photo from the Facebook account of the PNP)
The three light transport vehicles will be given to the PNP Academy and the Police National Training Institute.
“To our eight municipal police stations who are fortunate to be receiving these vehicles, we hope you take care of them and use the properly so that they can be useful to you for a long time,” Danao said.
Angara, whose father, the late former Sen. Edgardo J. Angara was from Aurora, was supposed to attend the turnover. But he was still in Davao City, where he attended the inauguration of Vice President-elect Sara Duterte. So he was represented by Aurora Lone District Rep. Rommel Rico Angara.
Meanwhile, Aurora town mayors were also present during the turnover.
“On behalf of the 225,000 men and officers of the Philippine National Police, we would like to express our utmost gratitude, especially for those vehicles. We hope you don’t get tired of helping our police officers,” Danao said.
Last June 7, Danao also asked cops to maintain cars and their guns, noting that they were lucky to use high-quality equipment.
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