PNP troubled by freeze order on bank account

Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac. NOY MORCOSO lll/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The entire operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP) face disruption once the court’s garnishment order against its bank account pushes through in August.

The PNP sought for a legal remedy on the order of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) ‎branch 23 garnishing P3.9 billion assets of the law enforcement agency.

The court ruling issued last July 9 stemmed from the case filed by the Manila’s Finest Retirees Association, representing the retired officers of the defunct Philippine Constabulary – Integrated National Police (PC-INP).

The retirees complained ‎of the nonpayment of their pension and pension differentials worth P3.9 billion from 1991 to 2006.

In the notice of garnishment addressed to the Land Bank of the Philippines, the court put the properties of the PNP under the control the state banks, disallowing any withdrawal, release, and transfer of money by the PNP.

“We are apprehensive that if this would not be resolved, the PNP operations will be unduly hampered and that more than 66,000 of our PNP and INP pensioners will not receive their pensions in their ATMs for August 2014 as a result of this garnishment order,” Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office (PNP PIO) chief, said in a Monday briefing.

This year, Sindac said the PNP was given P22.9 billion ‎as their budget for its pensioners but only up to the third quarter of 2014.

“The P22.9 billion allocated for pension is barely enough to finance for the regular pensions of policemen, which is roughly P1.8 billion a month,” he said.

The police official said the PNP is coordinating with the Land Bank to address the looming fiscal deficit PNP will face.

“This has really a big impact on us because we are withdrawing money from our Land Bank account every month for our operational expenses,” he added.

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