Mayor Binay wants more cops as holdup cases rise in Makati City

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

To augment the city’s “grossly inadequate” police force, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. has asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) to deploy more lawmen to the business capital which has a daytime population of more than four million.

In a letter to PNP chief Director General Allan Purisima, Binay cited the increase in cases of holdup and bag snatching incidents in Makati, even in broad daylight.

He added that his office had been receiving numerous complaints from residents, workers and other stakeholders about the rising criminality rate.

Asked earlier to comment on the series of unresolved holdup cases reported on Chino Roces Avenue—in which some of the victims were Inquirer employees—Makati police chief Senior Supt. Manuel Lukban said that despite their four police sub-stations in the area, the robbers always seemed to be one step ahead of them.

“It’s impossible to have our policemen posted on every road corner,” Lukban had reasoned out.

Binay cited Lukban’s statement, saying this was reason enough for the city’s request to be taken seriously.

“It is apparent that the current size of our police force is grossly inadequate to provide security and protection for a highly urbanized city like Makati,” he said.

According to Binay, the city has a nighttime population of about 530,000. This figure grows to about four million during daytime due to the influx of workers, students, shoppers and even tourists, most of whom flock to the central business district.

Right now, the Makati police force numbers 560 for a nighttime police to population ratio of 1:945 (one policeman for every 945 individuals). During daytime, the ratio is 1:10,714.

Binay said that the figures were far from the ideal ratio of 1:500 set by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

“Although the city has been trying its best to beef up force multipliers at the barangay level, police presence and visibility [are] still the most effective deterrent[s] to criminal elements and activities,” he added.

He expressed optimism that he would get positive feedback from Purisima who, according to him, shares the same goal of eliminating all forms of criminality, not only in Metro Manila but all over the country.

Asked how many policemen the city was requesting, Binay said that they would just wait for the PNP chief’s response, adding that they would accept whatever the PNP would provide since any additional hands would be a big help to the city’s anticriminality campaign.

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