400 cops banished from NCR

Some 400 policemen who apparently "chickened out" in the fight against criminality will be away from their families this Christmas season after they were ordered thrown out of Metro Manila by National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Edgar Aglipay.

The 400 policemen got Aglipay’s ire after repeated absences from his new crime-fighting project – the early morning formation and posting system, where policemen gather in busy streets prior to their deployment.

"We don’t need policemen who easily lose their nerve in the fight against criminality," said Aglipay in an interview. "We will throw them out of National Capital Region (NCR) and replace them with new recruits and policemen from other regions who have expressed their willingness to fight."

Aglipay has coordinated with police headquarters in Camp Crame and was assured of 803 policemen from various regions who have shown willingness to fight criminals in Metro Manila.

However, the number of those who backed out in the fight against criminality is expected to rise because majority of policemen are busy during the Christmas season attending to their fund-raising activities like extortion, mulcting motorists and selling tickets, sources said.

Under Aglipay’s new project, policemen who incur three successive absences from the formation and posting program would automatically be transferred to far-flung areas of the country.

Earlier, Aglipay credited the presence of uniformed policemen in the streets for the reduction of kidnappings-for-ransom, bank and payroll robberies and cellphone snatching incidents in Metro Manila since he returned to his former post last Nov. 22.

Aglipay vowed to win the war against criminals in the streets during his term. But he admitted this could not be done without the help of the citizenry.

The NCRPO chief said the transfer of the 400 policemen outside Metro Manila should serve as a warning to others that he means business.

He said station commanders should see to it that their men report religiously to the formation and posting program, or else they too would lose their jobs. "We have an understanding that if at least 10 percent of their men are absent during formation and posting, the station commanders should not stay any minute longer in their posts," said Aglipay.