By MARILOU AGUIRRE-TUBURAN | Davao Today
DAVAO CITY – Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte warned the police against mulcting money from motorists, storeowners and individuals after receiving reports that some of them have been doing just that while investigating a road mishap.
The mayor said he is aware that the salary of policemen is not enough to support their families but the city government will provide whatever it can to augment their income.
“If you (policemen) are having problems with medicines or rice supply, just ask help from me instead of asking storeowners or other people,” Duterte said in his weekly television program Gikan sa masa, para sa masa.
Senior Superintendent Ramon Apolinario, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) chief, said his office has been deluged with complaints from motorists against mulcting traffic personnel, prompting his office to suspend the deployment of its 50-member traffic group.
Duterte, however, clarified that the group was not “disbanded,” but was only “overhauled.” The mayor asked the DCPO to deploy erring traffic personnel to the police precincts in far-flung areas of Paquibato, Calinan and Marilog.
He said Communist guerrillas in the outskirts of Toril disarmed two policemen in Lizada in June after people complained about their mulcting activities.
Apolinario said erring traffic cops are still being investigated. He said the DCPO has reprimanded them and re-assigned them to other areas as a form of discipline. (Marilou Aguirre-Tuburan/davaotoday.com)
