PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte said he would take away the police’s procurement powers after the agency was said to have bought overpriced speed guns.

“I removed the power of the Philippine National Police to procure equipment,” he told reporters late Monday.

The national police allegedly bought speed guns that cost almost a million pesos each. Mr. Duterte noted that a unit costs only P10,000 in his hometown of Davao City. “Nine hundred fifty thousand pesos per unit is simply abominable,” he said.

He vowed to remove the procurement power of other corrupt agencies. “It’s a warning,” the President said of his action on the Philippine National Police.

Mr. Duterte said he would transfer the procurement authority to Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo M. Año.

This wasn’t the first time the PNP faced procurement issues. In November, the agency said it had fired several majors after they were found to have extorted P5 million from one of the bidders for more than P300 million worth of body cameras.

Mr. Duterte said he was thinking of putting up a new agency that will focus on the acquisition of government supplies and property. — Gillian M. Cortez

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