Villar bats for multiyear PNP modernization program

Senate President Manny Villar said government should lay out a multiyear police modernization program that puts premium on police visibility and giving them ready equipment. He said a police that can respond to distress calls in minutes and can "outshoot and outrun" criminals is the "fear factor" needed to keep crime at bay. He said "tough laws are useless if it will take ages for policemen to arrive at a crime scene, riding pedicabs and armed with guns that are nothing more than museum pieces."

"State-of-the-art laws on crime are only as good as state-of-the-art crime fighting equipment," he said.

"We can debate the death penalty to death, but whether it remains out of our statutes or back, one thing is certain: if people would know for sure that they will be caught and convicted for committing a crime then they will think twice about it," Villar said.

Villar, also Nacionalista Party president, said calls for the reimposition of capital punishment should not "distract the need to attack crime from the administrative side."

For starters, Villar said government can speed up the utilization of funds allocated in the 2008 national budget for more police officers, patrol cars and service firearms.

Congress, Villar said, appropriated P1.258 billion for the hiring of 3,000 police officers (P588 million), purchase of 500 patrol vehicles (P394 million), procurement of 5,000 firearms (P176.2 million) and construction of police stations (P100 million)

Admitting though that these are not enough for a country whose population grows by 1.8 million a year, Villar said government should draw up a 10-year police modernization plan that will wipe out existing manpower and equipment backlog and accommodate future needs.

"Revenues must be earmarked for these expenses. For example, at our present population growth rate, ideally we need to recruit 3,600 new officers annually, at a cost of P250,000 per head in training, equipment and initial year salary, or P900 million in all, " he said.

"We also have to buy more patrol cars or patrol motorcycles because while on paper the PNP has 8,000 vehicles in its garages, most of these are under or beyond repair, and are headed for the scrap yard," he said.

Villar said a program to upgrade the radio and phone equipment of the PNP must be started now.

"The P20 million allocated for the '117' emergency dialing system for this year is not enough. Some police stations have resorted to handing out their own cellphone numbers for the public to call but it is the officers who buy not only the equipment but also the 'load,"' Villar said.

"There must also be a constant stream of new service firearms to replace the old ones and to put them on the hands of the rookies. We cannot afford to have a gun-less police force," he said.

Villar said the police modernization plan should include the creation of a helicopter unit to address the unique need of the people-crammed "Mega Manila" which now practically stretches from Lucena to Clark.

"In pursuit operations, it will be hard to do it on streets choked with traffic. It will be quicker to send men by air if something happens in Cabuyao, for example," he said.

"But as we set in place the multi-year PNP Modernization program, the principles of accountability and transparency should be taken into consideration," he added.