Thursdal, October 3, 2019
'cAsH REWARD t5 FOR INF0RMANTt NoT FoR PoLlCE',
A LAWMAKER on Wednesdav
f\ slammea the long suspected
I lpractice of some police who
split up the cash rewards among
themselves as some sort of incentive
bonus.
Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin
Jr. said the bounty for informa-
tion on crime suspects is for in-
formants, not for the police who
investiqate the crimes and hunt
down the suspects.
Garbin has asked the Philippine
National Police (PNP)to explain be-
fore the lower chamber its distribu-
tion ofthe P35-million reward raised
for the capture of the killers of Ako
Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe.
Batocabe, a mayoral candidate
in Dagara town in Albay, and his po
lice escort, 5PO1 Orlando Diaz, were
killed while they were leaving a gift-
giving event in Barangay Burgos in
Daraga iast Decernber 22.
"The moment the total of P35
million was turned over to the PNP,
the laws on cash rewards, witness
protection, cuslody of fundsfor pub-
lic purposes were in play. Nowhere
in any of our laws and regulations
does it say the informants'bounty
are incentive bonuses for any police
officer or any so-called r{nja cop,"
Garbin said in a statement.
Of the P35 million bount, P20
mallion was from the Office of the
Presjdent, P1 3 million from the Rep
resentati\/es in ilre 'l7th Congress,
and P2 million from the Provincial
Government ofAlbay. ' the first time for the police to have
"Where isthe P35 million? lt is
sibiethat the irorey lvas pocketed by
unscrupulous policemen,just likethe
ninja cops accused offilching drugs
they confiscated? These ninja cops
are experts at gaming the system
because they fully control the sys-
tem. Congresg must unmask these
criminals in police uniform," Garbin
said in a statement.
"That they are even called ninja
cops is a verbal assault on the re-
vered role of ninjas in the history of
the Japanese people. The real Japa-
nese ninjas were men and women
who lived by a code of honor and
service.Ihe Filipino ninja cops and
other corrupt police are the exact
opposite because they are devoid
of honor," he added.
According to Garbin, it was not
pos- custody of rewards for informants.
Even before Presidentia I Decree
1731, it has been the practice of
government and some in the pri
\t )9AQ€ -Ae'o
vate sector to entrust informant
rewards to the police.
PD 1731 is the prevailing law on
informani rewards. House Bill 3507
was filed in the 16th Congress and
HB 3532 in the 17th Congress to put
in place a"Community lnformant Re-
ward Program"to update PD 1731.
carbinfileda resolution to probe
the P35-million cash reward.
The lawmaker said he wants a
transparent online system for infor-
mants'cash rewards, so any citizen
can find out in realtime, where the
funds are, where it is deposited, who
has custody ofit, and who are respon-
sible for it.
"Such a system can be scaled up
to apply to all public funds, to every
peso and centavos of the funds of
the Filipino peoplei'he said.
lovee Mqtie N. Delo Ctuz