PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. on Monday said he has ordered his men to continue their unrelenting efforts to account for most wanted persons in the country to prevent these criminals from preying on more targets in the streets.

“We are going all-out against all most wanted persons in the country specifically those who are covered with prizes on their heads for their involvement in major crimes like kidnappings, terrorism, drugs, robbery-holdup, murder and the like,” the top cop told the Journal Group as he commended the men and women of the 226,000-strong organization who have contributed well in the high approval rating given by the public to the administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. during its first 90-days.

Results of a Pulse Asia survey released on Thursday last week showed that respondents gave the PBBM administration a 67 percent and 62 percent approval rating respectively when it comes to fighting criminality and law enforcement.

The PNP chief said that from July 1 to October 6 this year or during the 1st 98-days of Marcos, hey have arrested 21 Top Most Wanted Persons (MWP) with bounties for their capture offered by both the Department of Interior and Local Government and Department of National Defense.

The intensified effort to account for wanted criminals nationwide during the period led to the surrender of a Top MWP with a prize on his head; the surrender of 134 MWPs and the arrest of a total of 254,848 MWPs.

Azurin said 20 wanted persons were also killed in gunfights with police operatives out to arrest them. Three of the slain suspects were tagged as Top MWPs while 17 are considered as MWPs.

The top cop said 66 of the law offenders captured were among the Regional MWPs, 124 are Provincial MWPs, and 489 are City/Municipal MWPs. The rest are other wanted persons.

Four of the most wanted men were arrested by agents of the Police Regional Office 5 under Brigadier Gen. Rudolph B. Dimas in separate manhunt operations in Bicol region last week. The suspects are wanted for rape, acts of lasciviousness and frustrated murder.

Commandos from the PNP Special Action Force under Brig. Gen. Edgar Alan O. Okubo last Thursday morning gunned down one of Mindanao’s most wanted criminals during a shootout in his hiding place in RT Lim, Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Okubo identified the slain suspect as Rasol Motabil Canda alias ‘Kah,’ a suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf Group wanted for murder, rape and homicide.

Recovered from the possession of the slain suspect were an unlicensed caliber .38 revolver with two spent cartridges and several live ammunition as well as a fragmentation grenade.

The suspect is wanted for his involvement in kidnapping-for-ransom, gun-for-hire, extortion and robbery-holdup activities in the province before he was neutralized.

After he was appointed by PBBM as the country’s 28th PNP chief, Azurin ordered all PNP units to further intensify their campaign against most wanted persons, particularly ordering PNP Director for Intelligence, incoming Major Gen. Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. to focus their drive on MWPs with bounties on their head offered by the Department of Interior and Local Government.

The top cop has instructed all 17 Police Regional Offices to ensure they won’t give wanted persons in their areas ‘any good time to sleep.’

Last month, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (DEG) headed by Brig. Gen. Narciso D. Domingo emerged as the top PNP unit when it comes to hauling MWPs to jail as the unit scored a 100 percent accomplishment in hauling targets with warrants of arrest during the period or a perfect 54 out of 54 targets.

The number of arrested MWPs and OWPs is expected to further increase this year as the PNP embarks on a massive anti-criminality operation including an all-out effort to account for wanted persons as part of their effort to keep the streets safe 24/7.

Domingo said that many of the wanted persons they hauled to jail were so-called’ High-Value Individuals’ facing non-bailable charges for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

He added that their intensified effort to account for wanted drug personalities has also resulted in the arrest of already jailed suspects. “We served a number of warrants issued against RA 9165 offenders on suspects who were already in jail for other criminal offenses,” the member of PNP Academy Class 1992 said.

PNP-DEG records showed that from August 4 to August 31, the PNP’s premier anti-narcotics unit arrested 22 ‘high-value targets’ facing non-bailable RA 9165 cases; 32 with bail recommended for their temporary liberty by the court; and 27 others who are already the subject of ‘Service of Sentence’ orders from different regional trial courts across the country.

During the period, the PNP-DEG also arrested 31 known drug personalities on non-bailable cases for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under RA 9165; 1 for violation of Section 11 of RA 9165 or illegal possession of dangerous drugs and another for violation of Section 12 of RA 9165 or illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.

Sale and possession of prohibited drugs is a non-bailable offense carrying the maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of as much as P10 million once convicted by the court.

Amid the instructions of Azurin, the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) headed by Brig. Gen. Ronald O. Lee has also stepped up its efforts to account for all wanted foreigners in the country especially those who have fled to the Philippines after being charged for major crimes such as fraud and embezzlement in their own countries, the Journal Group learned.

Lee said they are fully partnering with the Fugitive Search Unit of the Bureau of Immigration in tracking down wanted foreign nationals found hiding in Manila and other parts of the country.

The PNP-CIDG in fact has been cited by many of foreign police agencies with offices in the country for its big help in capturing their citizens who have fled to Manila after becoming fugitives in their own countries since the start of the new normal brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.