PNP chief wants firepower beefed up with P2-B budget

PNP Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome

The head of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Director General Nicanor A. Bartolome, wants to buy all the guns the organization needs within a year or two, using the PNP’s P2 billion-a-year modernization fund.

He hopes to fill the firearms quota by next year, and from there move on to other equipment that the PNP requires, such as communications devices, including phones and radios.

Bartolome said that in the past, the PNP would allocate only a little for each type of equipment, thus “we would end up with only a few of each.”

Under his proposal, the PNP will spend the bulk of the funds for a specific need, starting with weapons, so that one problem is solved at a time.

“So by next year, we will be done with the problem of guns. Then after that, perhaps we’ll see to our communications needs,” Bartolome said.

Earlier, Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said only three out of every four officers in the 140,000-strong police force are issued firearms, and that some cops even resort to buying their own firearms.

The PNP later clarified that the figure only covered short firearms and did not include long weapons.

In July, PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the PNP had 85,689 short firearms such as 9mm, .45-caliber and .38-caliber handguns (which has been phased out) and 63,260 long firearms, such as rifles and shotguns.

He said an additional 10,250 short firearms and 1,125 long firearms would be procured within the year.