I’M referring to the major anti-crime accomplishments scored this week by the Philippine National Police headed by General Benjie Acorda across the country amid some negative stories involving some of its men which are being swiftly addressed by concerned commanders.

One of the negative stories is a report that three reporters from San Juanico TV survived a shooting incident in Barangay Jones in Pastrana, Leyte around 9:30 a.m. last Friday. The report said that the reporters were covering a land dispute in the said barangay when a policewoman shooed them away.

The policewoman reportedly grabbed one of the reporter’s mobile phone while he was taking vides and pushed him away. The three mediamen said that a few minutes later, they heard gunshots and one of them even claimed seeing policemen in uniform firing the shots.

This is a matter that is now being thoroughly investigated by the Police Regional Office 8 headed by Brigadier General Vincent Calanoga of PNP Academy Class 1991. I heard from some local officials that the three mediamen were brought to the area by a person who ‘pawned or sold’ his land to a local cop but now wants it back.

That person reportedly asked the three to go with him in the area in an apparent effort to put some kind of pressure on the cop. The presence of three men taking video of the contested area apparently angered the cop and started the exchange of heated words.

Now, what the local police must do is to find out who really fired those shots. If there were really any gunfire in the area, I’m quite sure that local residents will hear them and the three mediamen would have been able to make the necessary recordings.

Then there are the two incidents in Manila which have been ordered thoroughly investigated by my friend, MPD director, Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon. One is a complaint that a group of MPD operatives extorted money from a computer shop owner and the other is an incident wherein a jealous man arrested for illegal discharge of firearm reportedly fell from the 3rd floor of the Manila City Hall where he is set to be inquested.

Dizon has ordered a massive hunt for the policemen accused of extortion and at the same time ordered the investigation of the escorts of the now dead man who fled after firing his gun in a Manila building out of jealousy until he was tracked down in his hiding place by MPD operatives. The man said he did fired his gun after learning that his girlfriend would be leaving him for abroad.

Come to think of it but each time there is a major PNP accomplishment, what comes next is a controversy that affects the morale of the organization. Before those two incidents, the MPD has been very successful in keeping crime in a very minimal level in Manila due to its stepped-up anti-criminality campaign and round-the-clock patrols.

Another example is the major PNP-Anti-Cybercrime Group raids on POGO hubs in Pampanga and Las Piñas City which led in the rescue of more than 3,000 trafficked Filipinos and other Asian nationals.

Following the raids which led in the discovery of the presence of several wanted foreigners and the involvement of the POGO facilities in online scams like cryptoscam, Love Scam, phishing and other illegal activities, the PNP-ACG was accused of irregularities in the conduct of the operation including alleged extortion and illegal raid.

It’s good that PNP-ACG director, Brig. Gen. Sydney Hernia had already fully explained the ACG side to Justice Secretary Boying Remulla. I learned that the PNP-ACG and the DOJ have agreed to have an honest-to-goodness partnership when it comes to conducting similar raids starting from case build-up and the actual raids and filing of appropriate criminal charges.

But except for those controversies, the PNP really had scored well this week in its campaign against wanted persons, illegal drugs and other lawbreakers with all 17 police regional offices and the different National Operational Support Units led by the CIDG, the SAF, the IMEG, the IG, the AKG and the ACG each having their share in the overall PNP accomplishments.

The CIDG headed by Major Gen. Bong Caramat has been busy accounting for most wanted persons and other violators of the law while being supported by the SAF led by Maj. Gen. Rod Dimas.

The PNP-SAF serves as the ‘main muscle’ of every PNP-NOSUs each time they carry a delicate mission.

On the other hand, the IMEG led by Brig. Gen. Warren De Leon has been unrelenting in its mission to account for rogues in uniform, whether they are in active service or already retired or dismissed from the force.

The PNP-IG headed by Colonel Romy Macapaz has provided a number of ‘intelligence packets’ which allowed other police units to account for most wanted criminals or smash well-entrenched organized crime syndicates including the raided POGO facilities in Las Piñas City.

The PNP-AKG under Brig. Gen. Jun Castil has really made very good progress in arresting traditional kidnapping-for-ransom activities in the country and early this week captured the leader of a notorious KFR gang and four of his men wanted for a series of kidnappings in Metro Manila, one of which led in the killing of a PNP-AKG operative as he and his colleagues were trying to arrest two other suspects in Pililla, Rizal in 2022.

All 17 police regional offices led by the NCRPO under soon-to-be Maj. Gen. Tateng Nartatez are also doing well in the fight against illegal drugs and other forms of criminality. Last Thursday, the Police Regional Office 7 headed by Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin arrested a top drug dealer in Central Visays who yielded nearly P22 million worth of shabu during a sting in Bohol province.

Last but not the least, the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ of the police force are really not stopping to solve crimes in the country especially the sensational ones. Let me particularly give credit to the Quezon City Police District headed by Brig. Gen. Nick Torre who this week arrested two suspects in the June 29 shooting of a Remate photojournalist and his relatives in Barangay Masambong.

The two suspects identified as Jomari dela Cruz and Eduardo Legaspi were tracked down by members of the QCPD Criminal Investigaiton and Detection Unit led by Major Don Don Llapitan, the QCPD District Anti-Carnapping Unit led by Captain Rommel Marcaida and the QCPD District Intelligence Division headed by Capt. Roger Onia.

Dela Cruz, who yielded an unlicensed pistol was arrested in an EDSA bus terminal on Thursday afternoon, just hours after the QCPD men recovered a car used by the gunmen who attacked the victims led by Rene Joshua Abiad. One of the victims, a 4-year old niece of the Remate photographer died several days in a local hospital where she was taken for treatment of a gunshot wound in the head.

On Wednesday, the QCPD men recovered in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija a silver Toyota Vios with plate no. NFE 5678 believed to have been the same car used by the gunmen who shot Abiad and the other victims. Also found inside the car’s trunk was the plate no. NVB 6263 which was seen in CCTV recordings as the one attached to the killers’ getaway vehicle last June 29.

I learned that the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC)-supported operation enabled the QCPD to arrest Legaspi alias ‘Bingbong’ last July 8.

The suspect who is believed to be a ‘gun-for-hire’ yielded a caliber .45 semi-automatic pistol with a magazine containing seven live ammunition, a hand grenade and a black motorcycle when arrested in Muntinlupa City.

Call it a good old-fashioned police style of investigation, this time also relying on CCTV cameras which may have captured the images of the killers before, during and after the attack. I expect the QCPD to get the rest of the suspects in due time.

Congratulations in advance.

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