Meeting Ping again
THE last time I saw then Senator Ping Lacson in person was on February 15, 2016 when he graced the founding anniversary of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters.
That was more than eight years ago.
On Thursday morning, I again saw Citizen Ping right after he met PNP chief General Rommel Marbil at the PNP Star-Lounge to lead the turnover of some P11 million worth of office and police equipment donated by the PNP Foundation, Inc. or PNPFI which he chairs.
Heavy traffic from Antipolo City to Camp Crame prevented me from coming in early to witness the turnover program but after driving for nearly two hours, I was met by a smiling Ping Lacson and two other members of the PNP Foundation, my friends Ms. Tessie Ang-See and Architect Ka Kuen Chua who happened to be my colleague at the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Groups’ advisory council.
Sir Ping or ’71 as we all call him warmly shook my hands before saying some words that made me laugh and smile while others in the audience watched. That brief meeting gave me the chance to reconnect with old friends and bring up fond memories we shared.
I happened to be a real witness to the exploits of Citizen Ping, also known as General Panfilo Lacson when he was still the head of the famous Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force and eventual PNP chief from November 16, 1999 to January 21, 2001.
I later learned that after handing over the PNPFI-donated office and police equipment to Gen. Marbil, Ping Lacson gave a brief speech wherein he reminisced the good old days when he led the national police force. Here it is:
“How time flies. Twenty-five years ago, on Nov. 28, 1999, barely 12 days after my appointment as the eighth Chief of the PNP, I was at the forefront of this organization’s two-pronged battle: one directed against criminal gangs and syndicates – robbers, kidnappers, drug lords and the like;
“And with equal intensity and vigor, I was also training our guns on what I had labeled then as the ICUs within our ranks: the Inept, Corrupt and Undisciplined policemen, especially focusing on the so-called kotong cops, or mulcting policemen on the streets preying on hapless motorists, public utility vehicles and vegetable dealers who had to shell out portions of their daily earnings as part of their daily ordeal,” he said.
“I believed then as I still believe now, that for an organization to properly do its job and accomplish its goals, there is no better way than to leading its members with AID, meaning Aptitude, Integrity, Discipline. Yan po ang antidote,” the member of Philippine Military Academy ‘Matatag’ Class of 1971 said.
Lacson said he still remembers the time the PNP was enjoying the trust and approval of many Filipinos prompt then President Joseph Estrada to ask him when he will retire.
“Sabi ko sa kanya since under the PNP Law, four years ang tenure ng Chief PNP, sa Nov. 16, 2003. Sabi niya, sabay tayo bababa sa June 2004. As he had promised, sabay nga kaming bumaba.
Kaya lang, hindi June 2004 kundi January 2001,” he said.
Lascon said in a strange twist of fate, “I found myself filing my certificate of candidacy to become an elected senator of the Republic, continuously serving three terms or 18 years, interrupted for three years from 2013 to 2016 by the two-term limit provision under the 1987 Constitution.”
“My police aide-de-camp then was a young and dashing police officer. Usually quiet and reserved, but noticeably observant and efficient: then P/Insp Jose Melencio Nartatez. He is now in the Command Group as the 2nd most senior police officer sa seniority,” Lacson said in referring to PNP Deputy Chief for Administration, Major Gen. Jose Melencio ‘Tateng’ Nartatez Jr. of PMA ‘Tanglaw-Diwa’ Class of 1992.
“Fast forward a year later in 2000, some civic-minded private citizens, bankers, finance managers and anti-crime advocates, in a display of appreciation to the services rendered by the police to their communities all over the archipelago, conceived of forming and actually putting up a PNP Foundation by tapping generous donors to provide the seed money designed to be held in perpetuity, utilizing only the interest earnings to provide equipment and logistical support to its one and only beneficiary or recipient of donations – the PNP,” Lacson said.
“And today is one of those many occasions that your foundation has given out albeit in our own small and humble way some equipment, supplies to a number of PNP units. As we the members of the Board of Trustees look at each other during our board meetings and other related activities, we cannot help but notice that nobody among us is getting any younger, which is actually an euphemism for getting old,” he explained.
“And this is one of the reasons why we are currently looking for equally enthused individuals to carry the torch of the PNPFI and move on to the next 25 years. I assure those who may be interested that it is very fulfilling and self-gratifying to experience the task that we are currently performing,” Lacson said.
The PNPFI donation include 201 desktop computers, 75 printers with scanners, 43 Public Address systems, 37 projectors, 9 CCTV system, 126 mountain bikes, volleyball shoes and other gears for the PNP volleyball team and 45 bullet-proof vests which went to the PNP-AKG.
For the uninformed, the PAOCTF was the forerunner of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force, the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response and now the PNP-AKG which continues to be a nemesis of kidnappers in the country. The current head of the PNP-AKG, Brigadier Gen. Roel Rodolfo of PNP Academy ‘Patnubay’ Class of 1995 is one of the proud officers who continue to hold office in a room formerly occupied by Lacson.
Gen. Marbil thanked the PNPFI for their latest effort to help the police force. The following day, it was the time for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, in partnership with the Japanese government to donate a three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning and mapping equipment to the PNP.
The 3D equipment will greatly enhance the efficiency of the PNP Forensic Group now under Brig. Gen. Benjie Sembrano in solving crimes in the country. Sembrano in particular said it will revolutionize their crime scene investigation process by providing precise 3D documentation and reconstruction of the complex crime scenes.
The P2.8 million worth of equipment is expected to improve the ability of police investigators in documenting and reconstructing complex crime scenes by capturing accurate and detailed images crucial for investigation and legal proceedings, I learned.
Sembrano, another PNPA Class 1995 member thanked Koichi Warisawa, director of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs international safety and security cooperation division for leading the ceremonial turnover of the state-of-the-art equipment.
“This is the latest example of Japan’s contribution to Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, in partnership with the UNODC in areas of law enforcement and criminal justice in countering and preventing terrorism and organized crime,” Warisawa said in a speech.
