MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, assured on Monday that police units will investigate the alleged anomalies in documents on the transfer of firearms and body armor vests to police regional offices that the Commission on Audit (COA) had discovered.
Eleazar has requested that a check be issued to see why the records of the national headquarters and the regional offices do not correspond.
“They should reconcile the records and correct the discrepancies to avoid possible issues in the deployment of weapons and other equipment to the Police Regional Offices,” Eleazar said in a statement sent to reporters Monday.
He stated that the PNP’s accounting division, the Directorate for Comptrollership, and the Directorate for Logistics are reviewing the records in order to make adjustments and rectify the alleged anomalies, as well as to guarantee that all items were delivered to the police regional offices.
“The PNP remains transparent and I assure the COA that we will address and correct this. Gusto din natin tiyakin na ang lahat ng mga gamit na nakalaan para sa ating mga Police Regional Offices ay nakararating at accounted (We also want to make sure that all equipment reserved for our police regional offices is accessible and accounted for),” he added.
The COA stated in its 2020 report that there was a lack of records demonstrating that firearms and body armor vests were handed to police regional offices across the country.
It claimed that the books of accounts of 11 police regional offices did not match the number of items allegedly transferred to them, including 9mm pistols, basic assault rifles, enhanced combat helmets, and tactical vests, as shown in records at the PNP’s headquarters.
The Ilocos region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Miraropa, Bicol region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Cordillera Administrative Region, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are among the police regional offices.
