SNIPPING AWAY. Antique Provincial Police Office (ANTPPO) Director Col. Leo Irwin Agpangan (left) cuts into pieces an old police uniform confiscated during police inspection. The destruction of the old uniform was held right after the flag-raising ceremony at the provincial police headquarters on Monday (Oct. 28, 2019). (Photo courtesy of ANTPPO)
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, Antique -- The Antique Provincial Police Office (ANTPPO) held a ceremonial destruction of old and faded police uniforms right after the flag-raising ceremony held at its headquarters here Monday.
In an interview, ANTPPO Deputy Director for Operations, Lt. Col. Norby Escobar, said that 420 old uniforms with their accouterments, including headgears and bull caps, were confiscated during an inspection at the municipal police stations in Belison, Caluya last week.
Led by Provincial Police Director, Col. Leo Irwin Agpangan, the old uniforms were cut into pieces as directed by the Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 (Western Visayas).
“The destruction of the old, faded police uniforms is part of instilling discipline among the police personnel,” he said, noting that this is part of their internal cleansing program.
He said PRO-6 believes that for police personnel to establish a sense of authority, as well as earn the respect of the populace that they serve, they have to look presentable.
“Police personnel are also being given PHP14,000 clothing allowance so they should procure their new set of uniforms,” Agpangan said.
The clothing allowance, he added, is being given every three years so that police personnel would be able to buy their new set of uniforms.
Meanwhile, Escobar requested other personnel to voluntarily surrender their old uniforms to their chiefs and not to give them away to civilians.
“Police personnel should not give away their old uniforms to their civilian relatives or friends for they might wear (them) to show off,” he said.
Escobar said police personnel, aside from being required to use presentable uniforms, are also instructed to maintain order and cleanliness in their stations to make them conducive to those who seek police assistance. (PNA)
