Robredo: No politicking, just reforms in PNP

MANILA, Philippines—Stung by the criticism of some congressmen, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo on Tuesday denied he was “politicking” with his exposés of alleged anomalies in the Philippine National Police (PNP) and he remained firm about his campaign to reform the police force.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

“SILG (Secretary of Interior and Local Government) has no plans of running for the Senate and has no plans of stopping his campaign to reform the PNP either,” said his office in a statement on Tuesday.

Robredo said his revelation of alleged irregularities in the PNP, particularly a supposed overprice in the construction cost of police stations and in the procurement of boots and uniforms, was solely for the benefit of the organization and to correct its past mistakes.

“What would really demoralize the police force is seeing that it’s business as usual in the PNP and all these infractions are tolerated,” he said.

Robredo noted that before he bared the latest alleged irregularities—and the purchase of police cars, boots and uniforms in previous administrations—he had issued several directives to the PNP chief and the director of logistics to investigate the anomalies.

He cited his March 11 order to PNP Director General Nicanor Bartolome to reduce by 10 percent (P 4.6 million) the construction cost of Type C police stations that had been pegged at P5.153 million per station by the PNP Engineering Service.

“My directive was based on the historical data of bidding results of the PNP per Type B and C police station which have an average bid price of P4.6 million,” he said.

“This is separate from reports furnished me which indicated that the PNP Region V office had come up with an average bid price of P3.5 million per station for the San Jose and Tinambac police stations, both in Camarines Sur, and San Andres police station in Catanduanes,” Robredo said.

Robredo said the PNP’s explanation was that based on its experience, “the cost of construction in island provinces and urban centers is always higher than in rural areas where concrete aggregates and other materials are available for free.”

But “the explanation is inconsistent with the facts,” Robredo said.

Robredo said he did not like to believe the PNP would be resistant to reforms.  With a report from Gil C. Cabacungan