Manila cops show real police visibility
I doff my hats off to members of the Manila Police who have really showed the importance of the thing called “police visibility” when they arrested three heavily-armed men posing as cops in Binondo district on Monday.
This is another proof that although the image of the PNP has been affected by recent stories of bungling or mulcting policemen, there are still quite a very good number of policemen who are out there in the streets doing their job to keep us safe 24/7.
The incident also showed the effectiveness of police patrols and response to a given situation considering that those fake cops were literally armed to the teeth and could have put up a fight by simply hurling their grenades to sow panic and confusion in the area.
On Monday, NCRPO director, Major General Anthony Aberin said their stepped-up crackdown against criminality led in the arrest of three men, two of them found to be posing as policemen each time they attack their targets, mostly wealthy businessman in the Chinatown.
The suspects were caught carrying illegal guns and explosives and posing as cops, wearing police patrol uniforms to show to others that they are real persons of authority going after lawbreakers in Binondo.
A report from the MPD headed by Brigadier Gen. Boyet Guzman showed that around 4:30 a.m. Monday, alert personnel from the MPD’s Meisic Police Station flagged down a red Mitsubishi Mirage along Yuchengco Street near corner San Vicente St.
The MPD operatives accosted the occupants of the vehicle after getting a tip they were apparently out to hit a target in Manila’s Chinatown district. Upon inspection of the vehicle, two of the suspects who were wearing PNP patrol uniforms claimed to be PNP members although they failed to present any valid identification card or mission orders.
The third suspect who was driving the car was in civilian clothes. While verifying the suspects’ identities, officers noticed a hand grenade in plain view at the the vehicle’s center console prompting them to make the arrest.
A thorough search of the vehicle and its occupants led to the recovery of one 9mm Pietro Beretta pistol with a magazine loaded with 15 live ammunition, one caliber .45 Taurus pistol with a magazine containing 11 bullets, one cal. .38 revolver with two live ammunition, two hand grenades, two sets of police patrol shirts and pants and two pairs of license plates bearing the numbers GH 343A and NKI 8327.
Maj. Gen. Aberin said a verification revealed that one of the two suspects wearing a police patrol shirt is a former PNP personnel who was fired from the service in 2022 while the second has never been a policeman. The car driver yielded a .38 revolver.
The Metro Manila police chief said they are looking into reports that the suspects were involved in a recent robbery-holdup incident in Sta. Rosa City in Laguna. One of the trio is also a “person of interest” in a murder case in Plaridel, Bulacan.
The recovered firearms and explosives were submitted to the MPD Forensic Unit for ballistics examination. MPD investigators are also checking if the three are licensed gun-holders and if they were issued gun ban exemption by the Commission on Elections.
Right now, the MPD has sought the assistance of the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office and the PNP Forensic Group to determine if the weapons could have been used in previous criminal activities in Metro Manila or other parts of the country. The check is being done with the help of the PNP Integrated Ballistics Identification System and Human Information Technology.
Apart from that, there is also a big need to investigate why the suspects were wearing police uniforms and were carrying firearms and explosives? Were they really out to rob or even kidnap a target in Binondo prior to their arrests?
Why are they so brazen and bold enough to pose as policemen knowing that police checkpoints have mushroomed in many parts of Metro Manila to arrest the presence of armed groups and illegal guns that could be used to disrupt the May 12 polls? Who are their connections?
The arrested suspects are now facing a string of criminal charges including usurpation of authority under Article 177 of the Revised Penal Code; violation of Article 179 of the Revised Penal Code which penalizes the illegal use of uniform and other accoutrements; violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act of 2013; RA 9516 or illegal possession of explosives and violation of the Omnibus Election Code in relation to the Comelec-imposed nationwide gun ban.
