ILOILO CITY — The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) is encouraging residents of this city to surrender or report any grenade they found in exchange for money.
Each live grenade surrendered will have an equivalent of PHP1,000.
The project dubbed “May Kwarta sa Granada” is an idea of the advisory council for police development of the ICPO, said spokesperson Senior Inspector Shella Mae Sangrines Wednesday.
Sangrines said the program which started only last December 14, kicked off with PHP40,000 seed money provided by the advisory council as the police wanted to be more proactive in their approach “rather than just being reactive.”
The project was conceived to rid the city of grenades, either kept in houses or left in open spaces, she added.
She emphasized that it was meant to ensure the safety of the public, especially the children. However, there was no available data as to how many live grenades are in the possession of the public.
The people are advised not to personally turnover the grenade to the police but instead report to their barangay officials for proper documentation.
The barangay will then be responsible for reporting to the ICPO which in turn will direct the Explosive and Ordnance Division (EOD) for proper disposition.
“Trained EOD personnel will be the one to go to the barangay,” she said.
The project will run until the fund is available but Sangrines expressed hope that the Liga ng mga Barangay would infuse additional money since the communities are the main beneficiaries. (PNA)
