MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/10 Jan.) – Starting this year Bukidnon will allot P2 million annually as reward for police personnel, informers and witnesses in a bid to address growing crime incidence in the province.
Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr. announced the reward system during the Provincial Peace and Order Council Meeting Thursday at the Provincial Planning and Development Office.
Zubiri made the announcement after Senior Supt. Glenn de la Torre, provincial police director, reported that total crime volume in Bukidnon increased by 44.14 percent, from 4,712 in 2012 to 6,792 in 2013.
The difference of 2,080 cases mostly came from increases in non-index crimes, from 887 cases in 2012 to 2,447 cases in 2013 or an increase of 176 percent.
Index crimes went up from 3,825 cases in 2012 to 4,345 cases in 2013, or a 14-percent increase.
Zubiri said the province will give a reward of P20,000 for the conviction of a case in murder, homicide, parricide, kidnapping, rape, robbery, and other index cases. Each of the informer and the witness in the
case will also receive P6,000.
He said they will reward eyewitness with “not less than P100,000 for grave offenses and high profile cases.”
The governor added they will give P5,000 for a police unit that can seize 0.001-1 gram of illegal drugs. Informers and witnesses will also receive P2,000 each.
He vowed to give full support to the city and municipal police stations but warned police chiefs he would lobby for their replacement if they could not produce results.
Zubiri told the police chiefs he will give them three months to reduce the crime volume by about 35 to 40 percent.
At the end of the meeting, though, he cited that they might not need to reach the target right away.
“Maybe about 20 percent decrease at least will do. We will look at it,” he said after Malaybalay Mayor Ignacio W. Zubiri, his nephew, asked for the basis for the relief of such police chiefs.
But Gov. Zubiri noted that his proposed reward system still depends on the requirements from the Commission on Audit.
But the governor and the mayors present admitted that the reward system would not be enough to control criminality in the province.
Damulog mayor Romeo Tiongco said “the local governments must possess something more than a financial reward system” to address criminality. (Walter I. Balane/MindaNews)