President Duterte transferred the procurement powers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año after finding out that some of its officials tried to buy radar speed guns for P950,000 each.
In a speech in Taguig City Monday night, Duterte said he was surprised to find out from the intelligence community about the PNP’s procurement. He admitted that he did not notice it during their last command conference.
“Napuna ng mga intelligence na ‘yung radar, ‘yung sa traffic, P950,000, close to a million. Hindi natin nakita. Akala ko ‘yun na ‘yung the whole gamot of…’yun pala isa. We did not see that. I thought that was for everything but that price was just for one item),” he said.
“It’s too… Nine hundred fifty thousand pesos per unit is simply abominable,” he added.
The President said he immediately called Año after finding out, claiming that it only cost the Davao City local government P10,000 to buy a radar speed gun.
“Kaya tinawagan ko si Secretary Año. Sabi ko ‘Do not allow the police to procure. Ang opisina mo na ang mag-procure… Tanggalin mo ‘yang procurement diyan sa pulis. Hindi na ‘yan sila makabili maski clip,” Duterte said.
“Mahal ko ang pulis. Ang problema may mga ugok talaga diyan,” he added.
In an interview after his speech, Duterte hoped that his latest move against the PNP will serve as a warning to other government agencies.
“It’s a warning sa lahat ng opisina. If you keep on fucking the people’s money, I will remove the procurement power sa inyo. Ako na,” he said.
Duterte earlier tasked Año to lead and fix the PNP because he cannot pick someone to serve as PNP chief after the supposed involvement of General Oscar Alabayalde in the “ninja cops” controversy.
Meanwhile, President Duterte reiterated his desire to revive the Marcos-era Bureau of Supply to stop corruption and so the public can monitor the government’s procurement of goods and services. (Argyll Geducos)
