ILOILO City – Western Visayas’ top cop Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan warned his personnel against pawning government-issued properties, especially weapons.
Policemen would be sacked and charged with the criminal offence of misusing government money if they do so, he stressed.
The government provided each Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) personnel a Glock 17 Generation 4 pistol for their short firearms.
“So far, wala naman akong nabalitaang police officers na nagsangla ng properties ng gobyerno,” said the PRO-6 director. His warning, he said, was just to preempt cops from even thinking about it.
But Pamuspusan did not rule out that some cops, who have gambling addiction and could not pay their debts, may resort to pawning their government-issued weapons.
He urged them to stay away from gambling dens such as cockpits and casinos, and refrain from “moonlighting” or taking on sidelines.
“Iwasan ang bisyo kasi ito ang dahilan ng hindi maganda ang takbo ng career niyo,” Pamuspusan said.
He will order an inspection of all police stations in the region to check if policemen still have their service firearms and other government properties in their possession./PN