MANILA - Television sets have been disallowed in lobbies of police stations in Metro Manila to ensure proper attention is given to people seeking assistance, the region’s top cop said Friday.

Police Maj. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo said in an interview on ABS-CBN’s Sakto program that he had also ordered policemen in the Philippine capital not to use their cellphones to send text messages or check their social media accounts while on duty.

“Nag-conduct kami ng study at discreet lang ito, na pinamunuan ng aming Regional Intelligence Division. Nung papasok yung tinatawag naming discreet personnel to ask assistance dun sa mga desk officers, medyo hindi naasikaso dahil nakatingin yung mga desk officer namin sa telebisyon, ayaw paistorbo,” said Okubo, who assumed the top post at the National Capital Region Police Office in February.

(We discreetly conducted a study, headed by our Regional Intelligence Division. When our personnel tried to asked for assistance from the desk officers, they were not properly attended to because the desk officer was watching television.)

“Kaya nagkakaroon ng maling assessment at pagtanggap sa mga customers namin. Kaya pinatanggal muna namin (yung mga telebisyon) dahil sa study namin na ginawang iyon,” he added.

(That resulted in an improper handling of our customers and wrong assessment. That’s why we prohibit TV sets now.)

Okubo said policemen may still get to watch TV but only in the station’s kitchen area.

Related to this campaign and policy, female cops have been assigned at the station’s front desks, the police official said.

“Naniniwala kami na ang aming mga kababaihang pulis ay may pasensya, the capability to listen to complaints, amiable, and of course, more compassionate, para mas magustuhan ng ating mga customers yung pagpasok sa istayson dahil mabait at mas nagbibigay ng assistance yung mga female officers namin,” Okubo said.

(We believe that our female cops have the patience, the capability to listen to complaints, are amiable and of course, more compassionate, and that these characteristics will entice our customers to visit our stations, because our female officers are kinder and offer better assistance.)

Texting and checking their social media accounts on their mobile phones while on duty have been disallowed so the attention of policemen toward their areas of responsibility will not be disrupted, the NCRPO chief said.

“Minsan, napansin n’yo, minsan sa isang grupo ng kapulisan, halos nakatungo lahat, (at) 360 (degrees), ‘di sila aware sa nangyari. Delikado yun sa naka-deploy,” said Okubo.

(You may have noticed that sometimes, a group of policemen are all looking down. It means they are not aware of their surroundings. That’s dangerous.)

‘Kaya sinabi namin na sabihan ang inyong pamilya na ‘pag kayo ay naka-duty, expect na hindi niyo masasagot yung mga text nila dapat dapat aware kayo sa 360 (degrees ng) areas ng inyong AOR at hindi palaging nakatungo,” he added.

(So we told our policemen to advise their families that while they are on duty, they may not be able to respond to their text messages. They should be aware of the entire surroundings in their areas of responsibility, and not keep looking down.)

Metro Manila has a population of almost 13.5 million people, as of May 2020, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

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