TABUK CITY, Kalinga– Given its population of 103,912 (2010 NSO) and under the national standard police to population ratio of 1:500, this city should have more than 200 cops.
But according to P/Supt Gilbert Fati-ig, chief of police, their effective force at the moment is only 81 for a ratio of 1:1,282.
Fati-ig told the City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) during its meeting yesterday that their roster consists of 107 personnel including four non-uniformed personnel but 15 of his men some of whom are holding key positions are detailed with the Kalinga Provincial Police Office.
Fati-ig also informed the CPOC that seven of his men are on study leave at the moment.
Fati-ig likewise told the CPOC that last August, Police Regional Director Elmo Francis Sarona directed that the Provincial Public Safety Company hand over the four Community Police Assistance Center (COMPAC) in the city to the city police spreading their force even thinner.
“Because we assigned four policemen to each COMPAQ, the number of our patrollers for the city center per team has been reduced from eight to two to three to each team. This has delayed our response by five to 10 minutes specially for shooting incidents because we still have to request for assistance from the Regional Public Safety Battalion or the Provincial Public Safety Company,” Fati-ig said.
Fati-ig said that there is an irony in the manpower situation of the city police because of the high incidence of criminality explaining that from January to August this year, a daily average of 1.7 crimes including vehicular traffic accidents or 51.06 crimes a month have been reported to the police.
“With our current number, we are now on 24-hour shifts with one day interval,” Fati-ig said.
Asked by the ZigZag Weekly for his reaction on the revelations of Fati-ig, Kalinga Police Provincial Director Victor Wanchakan said that he will talk with the former regarding the matter immediately.
In response to the information from Fati-ig, the CPOC passed two resolutions one of which requests Wanchakan to assign some members of the KPPO to the Tabuk police station anyway some 50 rookies have been deployed to the province.
Directed to Sarona, the second resolution pleads that that the manpower woes of the city be addressed.**By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
