120 top criminals nabbed in 2 months – NCRPO

MANILA, Philippines - At least 120 of 440 most wanted criminals in Metro Manila have been arrested the past two months, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Carmelo Valmoria said yesterday.

He said their capture reduced crimes from over 1,000 in June to 520 cases this month, a reduction of almost 50 percent.

“We expect the crime rate to drop further as we intensify efforts to get other most wanted persons in the metropolis,” Valmoria said.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas appeared satisfied with the NCRPO’s performance against criminals but warned Valmoria and his commanders not to lower their guard, especially during this Christmas season.

Valmoria said the NCRPO and other police units have come up with only one list of wanted persons to jointly neutralize criminals.

“Unlike in the past when various police units have separate listings of wanted persons, we now have one or a synchronized list so we could easily monitor the progress of our efforts against crime,” he said.

He said most of the wanted persons are involved in robberies and muggings and prey on people withdrawing from banks, moneychangers and remittance outlets.

Valmoria said five district directors and 38 station commanders were tasked to identify 10 most wanted persons in their respective areas to get the other targets.

Valmoria and top PNP officials meet every Wednesday with Roxas to evaluate their anti-crime performance and fine-tune the loopholes in their deployment of police officers.