Manila cops get P10K each from ‘Santa’ Estrada

ESTRADA reviews his “mounted” MPD troops on Wednesday. JOAN BONDOC

MANILA, Philippines—“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” blared out of loudspeakers to announce his arrival. But no, it’s not the white-haired man in the red suit who came but the mustachioed mayor in barong.

The Manila Police District made quite a show Wednesday of Mayor Joseph Estrada’s release of the latest tranche of allowances for MPD members, making it an early Christmas for the 4,000-strong force.

As the policemen stood in formation at the MPD headquarters, Estrada handed out envelopes containing their so-called “peace and order activity allowance” at P10,000 each, for the months of May, June, July and August.

But like Santa, the mayor has apparently taken note of who’s naughty or nice.

“Those who have pending cases (against them) will not get their allowances ever,” Estrada said in his brief remarks. “I will not tolerate abuses of the police. In fact, they should be sacked.”

“The only thing I’m asking in return is you stay away from corrupt practices, such as extortion, car theft, and abduction,” said Estrada who, like in many past speeches, again made a joke about his being an ex-President, ex-senator, ex-mayor and “ex-convict.” The last was in reference to his conviction for plunder in 2007.

The MPD, however, was one of the four police districts in Metro Manila whose chiefs were relieved of their posts early last month for failing to meet crime-reduction targets set by the Philippine National Police high command.

The relief order saw the replacement of then MPD director Chief Supt. Rolando Asuncion by Senior Supt. Rolando Nana.

According to MPD data, its crime solution efficiency was at 53 percent during the first half of the year, almost unchanged from that of the same period last year. Crime volume went down by only 2 percent in the second quarter of 2014 compared to the corresponding period in 2013. Nathaniel R. Melican