Anti-crime drive gets massive shot in the arm

The fight against rising crime is getting a huge boost with the allotment of fresh funding for lead law enforcement agencies in the proposed 2008 national budget.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan, chairman of the Senate committee on public order, safety and illegal drugs, said a total of P40.5 billion has been earmarked for the National Police, with a portion of the new money meant to further build up the force.

The senator said P686.9 million would be spent to take on 3,500 additional police officers next year, on top of the 3,000 recruited this year.

The employment of extra personnel forms part of a five-year plan to engage up to 15,000 new officers, including 2,250 female deputies who would mostly oversee station desks for women and children, he said.

Based on the police's current strength of 120,000 and a population of 88.7 million, Honasan said at least one officer is now looking after every 2,217 citizens.

This is based on a force of 40,000 on duty at any given time on three, eight-hour shifts.

Besides the allocation for additional staff, the senator said capital outlays of P394 million would be spent to acquire 500 new patrol cars; P176.2 million to purchase 5,000 additional firearms; and P100 million to construct extra stations.

As to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), it would get a budget of P759.9 million next year -- P20 million more than its allotment this year, Honasan said.

The NBI earlier reported that it solved 77 percent or 9,135 out of the 11,728 total criminal cases it handled last year.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) is getting a budget of P3.4 billion -- P129.6 million more than its current allocation.

Based on this budget and next year's projected jail population, Honasan said the government would be spending about P38,202 per inmate.

He said the BJMP's budget includes P1.1 billion for the subsistence allowance of inmates; P95.3 million to retain 500 new jail officers; and P32.7 to purchase additional firearms and handcuffs.

The senator also said P36.9 million would be spent to build extra jails to ease severe congestion, with the rapidly increasing inmate population. He cited the case of Quezon City jails that were meant to house only 815 inmates, but now have 3,400.

The BJMP sees the nationwide jail population hitting 89,000 next year, 101,250 by 2009 and 114,930 in 2010. This does not include convicts held by the Bureau of Corrections.

As for the 1,048-strong Public Attorney's Office, which extends legal representation to indigents in conflict with the law, it would get P685 million -- P46.3 million more than its P638.7-million budget this year.