PNP Police Station Operating Inside A Toilet

Here's a lovely news item that is all sorts of messed up. Like, at every level nothing in this story makes sense. But, it's true. It happened right here in the Philippines. 

https://mb.com.ph/2026/09/16/comfort-room-turned-into-a-police-station-shocks-pro-6s-top-cop

Western Visayas regional police chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño was shocked that a comfort room (CR) of a public gymnasium is being used as the police station of San Rafael town in Iloilo province

“I cannot accept that our police has to work in that kind of environment,” said Tuaño, regional director of Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).

Tuaño recalled that when it was first reported to him, he could not believe the municipal police station of San Rafael was literally inside a  CR.  But his perception changed when he actually saw the situation personally during a September 13 site inspection.

Tuaño told the Iloilo Police and Defense Press Corps that the remnants of the CR at the current police station were still there - shower hoses and bathroom sinks.

Accompanied by Col. Bayani Razalan of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), Tuaño spoke to Vice Mayor Roberto Belleza Jr. to coordinate with the San Rafael local government unit (LGU) on how to improve the municipal police station. 

Tuaño ordered PRO-6’s Regional Logistics and Research and Development Division (RLRDD) and PRO-6’s Regional Comptrollership Division (RCD) to draft a long-term plan for a new and permanent police station of San Rafael.

The real shock here is not that the PNP is employed in the time honored Philippine practice of bricolage, which "is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available." Bricolage is why there are highly flammable shanty towns all over the place. 

No, the real shock is that Western Visayas regional police chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño has no idea what is happening in his region. Does he not regularly visit all the stations of which he is in charge or at least send out subordinates to inspect them?

There is not a lot of information on this situation apart from this short article. How long have they been operating in a repurposed CR? It would seem that San Rafael has never had a proper police station. Who was it that decided to repurpose the CR? How exactly was policing conducted in San Rafael? What about monetary allocations from the national budget? Did the LGU ever raise any complaints and if so what was done about them?

There are a lot of questions here and they all point back to Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño and the PNP top brass who apparently have no idea about the needs of San Rafael. Given the physical state of the facility and the residual bathroom fixtures still in place, this arrangement almost certainly predates Gen. Tuaño’s tenure. The fact that a regional director could still be shocked by it in September 2026 therefore raises questions not only about his own oversight but about the succession of commanders who allowed the situation to persist.

It's simply more evidence that the PNP is an inept and thoroughly corrupt organization.