Lower peace and order budget set for next year

CEBU City’s executive department has lowered its s Peace and Order Program (POP) budget by P50 million, or from P191.2 million this year to P138.9 million in 2018.

While most of their budget appropriations remain the same this year and next year, program chief Arnel Tancinco said the biggest difference next year is that there are no capital outlay projects.

“This is because our P33-million budget for capital outlay this year has not been used. We will be using this same budget for next year,” he said.

The capital outlay projects include motor vehicles for the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team (P10 million), various police equipment (P5 million) and disaster response and rescue equipment (P5 million).

Also included were the renovation of the city police’s firing range (P5 million), repair and improvement of the city’s police precincts (P5 million), and renovation of the Cebu City Command Center (P3 million).

During last Wednesday afternoon’s budget hearing for the proposed P6.3-billion annual budget of the city, Tancinco said they already started processing the documents for the rehabilitation of the police precincts in the city.

As for the firing range of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), he said renovation works will be pursued next year which includes mitigating the noise from the facility in response to earlier complaints from neighbors.

The POP’s proposal for its personal services for next year remains the same at P16.3 million.

Their proposed budget for maintenance and other operating expenses in 2018 lowered to P122.5 million compared to P141.8 million this year.

The incentive allowance for peace and order personnel serving Cebu City went down from P85 million this year to P58.2 million next year.

But the local finance committee said it can still be augmented if they exceed revenue targets.

A new allocation of P7 million will go to buying fire extinguishers.

Tancinco said Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña plans to distribute the 1,900 fire extinguishers costing P3,500 each to key locations in all barangays of the city.