By Leonardo Micua

 

A day before PNP Chief General Nicolas Torre III was relieved of his post by Malacañang, Mayor Belen Fernandez, Vice Mayor Bryan Kua and some members of the Dagupan City council were at the office of Acting City Police Chief, Lt. Colonel Lawrence Keith Calub to test if the five-minute response time given to policemen by Torre would really work in any emergency.

That was a holiday, National Heroes’ Day, yet Mayor Belen and the other city officials were still out of their comfort zone to perform a task relevant to their duties as public servants.

Like any other Dagupeño, they were interested in knowing whether local policemen can really be at the scene of a crime or an incident within five minutes after a call is received by the police command post from the emergency hotline 911.

Calub told his guests to pick out any place in Dagupan.

Without hesitation, Mayor Belen gave out the site: Arzadon Subdivision at Sitio Camanggaan in Barangay Mayombo. In a second, the command post pressed the alarm to alert policemen on the ground while a map and location of the place flashed on a computer screen. In less than three minutes, members of the police’s motorcycle and mobile units reached the site.

Instant applause was given after the policemen who reached the scene executed a snappy salute to Calub and his guests.

But Councilor Lino Fernandez wanted a further test, so he asked policemen to proceed to the intersection of JDV Expressway and the Dagupan-Binmaley Road. In less than one minute, policemen were already at the site. Another round of applause came.

Calub explained that most policemen are already fanned out to different areas of Dagupan as members of motorcycle and mobile units, ready to respond to any kind of emergency.

Few policemen are now left at their respective stations, just enough to attend to walk-in concerns.

The 5-minute response time is a legacy of now former PNP chief Torre, who was only three days short of completing three months in office, the shortest stint ever by a PNP chief, before he was relieved from his post.

We can only hope that Torre’s successor, Lt. General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., will retain the 5-minute response time – or else improve it.

Replacing Torre is a prerogative of the appointing power, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

But not a few were surprised and saddened by his quick relief from his post simply because, according to Senator Ping Larson, who is a former PNP chief, Torre acted beyond his authority.

He effected a revamp of high officials of the PNP without seeking the authority of a higher office, the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) chaired by Interior and Local Government Secretary Junvic Remulla and suffered for it.

One of those he reassigned to assume a police command in Mindanao was his second-in-command, Lt. General Nartatez, the deputy chief of PNP for administration, a PMA graduate of Class 1992.

The insinuation that it was “militics” that triggered Torre’s fall.

But fans of Torre are consoled at the statement of Remulla that the deposed PNP chief is clean, did not violate any law, and could be given another high government post by President Marcos.

*          *          *          *

Whoever is that DPWH official behind the move to construct a four-lane highway in front of the Lingayen Airport and the Pangasinan Provincial Police Office must be out of his mind.

Once built, where will it lead to? Of course, the Lingayen Baywalk, now widely used by four-wheel light vehicles commuting from Lingayen to  Binmaley and vice versa.

But the Lingayen to Binmaley Baywalk, initially introduced by then Lingayen Mayor Leopoldo Bataoil when he was still a congressman, was not designed to serve as a highway, but for jogging, walking, and cycling.

In other words, it cannot withstand the wear and tear expected of highways, unless it is transformed into a real highway of also four lanes. 

Question: Did the Civil Aviation Authority, which manages the Lingayen Airport, and the PNP higher up consent to their frontage being torn down to give way to the envisioned four-lane highway? 

And what about the private properties that would be encroached upon? Were they duly notified and compensated? 

Residents of Lingayen were surprised at the four-lane highway being constructed because only an average of five to seven cars pass there per day. 

What a waste of public money.

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments