MANILA - Senate President Pro Tempore on Tuesday urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to renovate a nearly half a century-old building inside its headquarters in Quezon City to that is being used as storage for the police's firearms and ammunition.

The Firearm Explosive Office inside Camp Crame was built in the 1970s, according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año.

"Shouldn't that need to be refurbished? Baka magkaputukan pa diyan (There might be explosions there) in the future," Recto said during budget debates in the Senate.

"Maybe at the appropriate time we can also find funding to upgrade that facility dahil delikado din yan (because that is also dangerous)," he said.

Aside from upgrading the storage facility, Recto also urged the chamber to allocate funds for the reconstruction of police stations in his home province Batangas which were "wiped out" after the Taal volcano eruption.

Police stations damaged due to the recent series of typhoons that hit Luzon also have to be repaired, he said.

Senate Committee on Finance chair Sonny Angara backed Recto's call, noting that the PNP incurred about P34-million worth of damage in police infrastructure due to calamities these year.

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