PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Dionardo B. Carlos wants his field commanders to really engage the media by dishing out timely and accurate information to the press as they embark on another mission to ensure an honest, orderly and fair conduct of the May 2022 national and local elections, the Journal Group learned yesterday.

Himself a former PNP spokesperson and chief of its Public Information Office, the 27th PNP chief told the Journal Group he will direct his Regional, Provincial and City Directors, their Chiefs of Police and their designated spokesmen to ‘talk to the press’ and be ready to field questions so that there won’t be any more room for speculations particularly during the coming election period.

The PNP chief said he is highly confident that his field commanders are mature enough to handle information the media needs and will make his instructions clear as he presides over his 2ndcommand conference at Camp Crame today, Monday.

In particular, Carlos said he wants to have a program similar to the old Talakayan sa Isyung Pulis or TSIP which was a successful PNP media forum started by now retired General Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. when he was still the PNP spokesperson.

The top cop added he also wants his field commanders and their respective public information offices and spokesperson to be ready to talk to the press especially when there is major breaking news in their areas of responsibility.

Critical issues, he said should always be addressed by respective field commanders and their official spokesperson as speculative reports can always be addressed by accurate information from the field.

The PNP chief’s order came in the wake of the killing of journalist Jesus ‘Jess’ Malabanan, a founding member of the PNP Press Corps. There were complaints regarding the delay in the release of information and timely actions from concerned officials of the Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) and the Calbayog City Police Station in the wake of the killing of Malabanan.

Malabanan was shot dead by an unidentified gunman while watching television inside his family’s store in Calbayog City in Samar around 6:30 p.m. last Wednesday. The assassin fled on board a motorcycle driven by a cohort.

In line with their full policy on transparency, police officials have been asked to immediately provide the media with the basic reports on any major incident—the so-called Who, What, When, Where, Why and How and not keep the press in the dark as this results to different kinds of speculations which affects the public’s understanding.

As always, a major incident requires the immediate activation of a Special Investigation Task Group to probe the incident and hunt down the suspects. However, SITGs also need to have a single spokesperson who is an expert in giving out information that would not jeopardize their ongoing investigation.

Carlos earlier ordered his field commanders to implement aggressive measures to prevent further attacks on elected officials and other personalities in the country as they prepare their 2022 election security plans.

He said that although these incidents are yet to be considered as Election-Related Violent Incidents or ERVIs, they need to be immediately addressed and solved as soon as possible as they may pose a threat to the peaceful conduct of the 2022 national and local elections.

The PNP chief directed all his RDs, PDs and CDs as well as their COPs and commanders of Mobile Force Battalions to take all the appropriate steps to prevent gun-related violent incidents.

Apart from the stepped up conduct of foot and mobile patrols and security checkpoints, police nationwide are also under orders to intensify their campaign against illegal firearms and private armed groups in their jurisdiction to prevent similar bloody and headline-hogging incidents from taking place.

Carlos referred to shooting incidents over the past few weeks that left some elected officials and other candidates or their supporters dead or wounded although he said that it is too early to say that they are election-related.

As of yesterday, concerned police units are still tracking down the gunmen involved in those attacks and are looking for all possible witnesses and other leads including CCTV footages that could lead them to the solution of the cases.

They include the assassination of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte Sangguniang Bayan member Apolonio Medrano who was shot dead while about to board his vehicle after attending the traditional flag-raising ceremony in the municipality last Monday morning.

Medrano sustained gunshot wounds in different parts of his body and was pronounced dead upon arrival in a local hospital by an attending physician.

According to witnesses, a jacket-riding gunman fled on board a motorcycle after shooting the victim without any provocation. A retired police intelligence officer, Medrano also survived an ambush attempt on April 26, 2017.

Then there is also the case of two Basilan mayors who were shot by unidentified gunmen in Zamboanga City on the same day.

Carlos directed Lieutenant Gen. Jose Chiquito M. Malayo, PNP Area Commander for Western Mindanao, to coordinate pursuit operations by the Police Regional Office 9 (PRO9) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region police force against the gunmen who allegedly escaped aboard a motorized boat.

Carlos said that since the pursuit may involve overlapping regional jurisdictions, the APC-WM is in a better position to coordinate operations by PNP Regional and National Support Units, as well as with Armed Forces and Coast Guard units in the area.

Four gunmen attacked Mayor Alih Awal Sali of Akbar Basilan, Mayor Darussalam Saguindilan Lajid of Al-Barka Basilan; and driver Barad Nuruddin at 8:31 a.m. last Monday in Seaside, Barangay Baliwasan, Zamboanga City.

The victims sustained gunshot wounds and were rushed to the hospital for immediate medical treatment but Mayor Darussalam Lajid and his driver Nuriddin were declared dead on arrival by the attending physician. The suspects fled after the commission of the crime with motorized boat and one white car as their gate away vehicles.

Police are looking into possible ‘Rido’ or clan feud as one of the motives behind the Zamboanga City attack.