Sinas says cops caught without their payroll ATMs will be in trouble

Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas, director of the Regional Police Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) / File photo

CEBU CITY, Philipines –Chief Superintendent Debold Sinas, the director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), warned all policemen in the region they will get in trouble if they caught pawning their payroll ATMs.

 Sinas issued this warning after he learned that a number of policemen under his command are regular clients of lending companies using their automated teller machine (ATM) cards, where their salaries are deposited, as collateral.

Sinas said the hefty interest charged by these lending companies should discourage policemen from patronizing their businesses.

At the same time, he said, policemen  no longer have a compelling reason to get a loan since they are now getting bigger pay.

Sinas said it was during the surprise inspection in a police station in Cebu province that he discovered that two policemen were not in possession of their payroll ATMs as these were being held by lending companies. 

He said policemen should be able to not just live within their means and know how to budget their income but also to save a portion of their salary.

“Ang maayo dinha nga disiplinahon nato ang atong kaugalingon sa atong gasto di kay pataka lang ug palit. Kinaghanglan kamao usab mo badyet,” he said.

Accoring to Sinas, he planned to do a weekly inspection to find out if the policemen are in possession of their payroll ATM cards.

Sinas stressed that he would be doing this as a way of helping policemen budget their salaries properly, as he could not allow them to get involve in wrongdoings simply because they did not use their money wisely. 

”Abi nimo ug pasagdahan lang ni nga ingani mamahimo ang atong mga pulis maka buhat ug dautan,” he said.

A policeman, who spoke with Cebu Daily News Digital on condition of anonymity, admitted he had been pawning his salary and had been leaving his ATM card to the lending company as collateral.

In fact, he said, it had been four years since he pawned his payroll ATM card to a lending company, as the latter would readily give him a loan whenever he was faced with an emergency /elb