Caloocan plans transfer of police HQ, upgrade to police district

MANILA, Philippines — Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan is considering transferring the city police station to North Caloocan, which can also serve as a future district headquarters.

 

In a phone interview on Thursday, Malapitan said the plan to turn the city police station into a district headquarters was in place before a fire razed the city station along Sangandaan Road, South Caloocan on Tuesday.

 

He said North Caloocan has more idle land where the new district headquarters can be built. He also said that the city needs to put up five more community precincts to reorganize the police station into a police district. The city station already has seven community precincts under it.

 

In October, Reps. Dale Malapitan and Edgar Erice of Caloocan City filed a House resolution to urge the National Police Commission to upgrade the Caloocan Police Station into a full district.

 

They pointed out in House Resolution 1364 that despite the city having the third largest population in the National Capital Region, "the maintenance of peace and order thereof is directly managed by a mere city police station."

 

The lawmakers said the current structure "does not synch well or is inadequate to respond to the punishing demands and requirements of the city's population and the sheer size of its land area." 

 

The resolution was supported by Reps. Wes Gatchalian (1st District, Valenzuela), Eric Martinez (2nd District, Valenzuela) John Marvin "Yul Servo" Nieto (Manila), Leopoldo Bataoil (Pangasinan), Federico Sandoval II (Malabon) and Tobias Tiangco (Navotas City). 

 

Mayor Malapitan said a new building may be financed with a P14-million allotment from the proposed 2018 Philippine National Police budget.

 

But the new district station remains a plan for now and will have to go through the government procurement process.

 

"We will help them rebuild, but it will take time because of the requirements of the law," Malapitan told the STAR.

 

READ: Fire hits Caloocan police station, destroys case files

In the meantime, the city government has provided desks and computers for the police officers to use. The station has also been holding office in a nearby multipurpose hall.

 

Senior Superintendent Jemar Modequillo, police chief, said the transfer remains a proposal and that the station needs immediate support to bring operations back to "business as usual."

 

He said the razed building can no longer be rebuilt, especially because the lot it is on is owned by Philippine National Railways, not the local government.

 

The fire, which destroyed case files and evidence, has raised concerns over pending cases involving Caloocan City police, who were relieved en masse in September over allegations of extrajudicial killings and a robbery done in the guise of a legitimate police operation.

 

He denied that the duplicates of the burned case folders, especially those involving extrajudicial killings, may no longer be admissible in court because these photocopies may still be certified as true copies.

 

"Even though these are photocopies, for as long as these are certified, these are still admissible in court," Modequillo said.