THE Philippine National Police has added more sea and land mobile assets, and communication equipment to support police operations.
PNP Chief, Police General Dionardo Carlos led police officials in the blessing of the new equipment worth PP576,667,540.00 during simple ceremonies at the PNP National Headquarters on Wednesday.
“The PNP is grateful to President Rodrigo R Duterte and the national government for the gesture of genuine responsiveness to the operational needs of the PNP to perform our law enforcement and public safety mission. We can only reciprocate our gratitude through better police service to the people,” Carlos said.
Among the latest addition to the PNP fleet of seacrafts are 10 police high-speed tactical watercraft powered by twin 250 horsepower engines.
The new seacraft will beef-up the existing fleet of police gunboats currently in service with the PNP Maritime Group and Special Action Force for seaborne police operations and preventive patrol along the country’s 36,000 kilometer shoreline, and coastal borders.
Also in the latest procurement package are 34 6-wheel utility trucks, 123 4×2 patrol vehicles, 170 low band VHF tactical radio sets, and 1,628 handheld Digital Mobile Radio transceivers.
The Chief PNP said the latest procurement program for the new equipment was administered by the PNP Bids and Awards Committee chaired by Police Major General Rodolfo Azurin Jr, the director for comptrollership.
The procurement program was funded from the PNP Capability Enhancement Program (CEP) for the years 2020 and 2021.
“These vehicles and communication equipment make up the backbone of police operations, the field that are expected to further boost police patrol and visibility in land and sea environment to meet requirements for greater police presence in communities under heightened COVID Alert levels; and to support KASIMBAYANAN SAFE initiatives for the forthcoming 2022 National and Local Elections,” Carlos said.
“Especially with more communication equipment available, we can now swiftly provide immediate rapid reaction to calls for police assistance and emergency response,” he said.
