YEARENDER: PNP gains headway vs crime, but loses chief

MANILA, Philippines – The year 2014 was unique for the Philippine National Police, as it ended with its chief Director General Alan Purisima suspended.

It was the first time in the PNP’s history that its top cop was suspended on allegations of corruption.

The suspension of Purisima came days before the second in command, Deputy Director General Felipe Rojas Jr., retired from the service, leaving the top positions vacant.

The unique situation gave Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, as the third most senior police official, the chance to lead the 158,000-strong national police force as officer-in-charge. Espina has only seven months left in the service. Purisima’s six-month preventive suspension will end in July, at almost the same time Espina bows out from the service.

Lawmakers and other sectors, however, have called on President Aquino to appoint a new PNP chief to replace Purisima permanently.

Start of the year

At the start of 2014, the PNP arrested at least 16 people, including four policemen, for indiscriminate firing during the New Year revelry.

The PNP then had to deal with the controversy involving comedian-TV host Vhong Navarro and model Deniece Cornejo. Navarro claimed he was invited by Cornejo to her condominium unit in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, where he was allegedly beaten up by Cornejo’s friends led by Cedric Lee, who accused the comedian of raping the model.

Lee’s group brought Navarro, with face swollen and beaten black and blue, to the Southern Police District-Investigation and Detective Management, where police officers merely logged the incident and did not bother to check who was responsible for the comedian’s physical injuries.

Policemen on duty claimed it was their first time to record a case of physical injuries where the victim was not interested in pursuing the case. Navarro claimed he was under threat at the time.

In the face of such lapses, Purisima ordered a review of procedures to prevent lapses similar to the case of Navarro.

While the PNP is trying to correct such lapses, the alleged “wheel of torture” employed by some policemen in Southern Tagalog was exposed.

Reports had it that 10 policemen of the Laguna Police Intelligence Branch allegedly manhandled about 50 inmates, most of them linked to illegal drug operations, inside the Laguna IB provincial police.

The policemen allegedly used the roleta ng kamalasan – a wheel listing various methods of torture – to punish suspects arrested for various offenses.

As a consequence, the PNP leadership ordered inspections of all police facilities nationwide to make sure no more wheels of torture or similar facility existed.

The policemen involved have been slapped with administrative and criminal charges.

It was also in January when President Aquino personally ordered a thorough investigation into 900 missing high-powered firearms, mostly AK-47s and M16s, imported by a gun dealer but which the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office failed to account for.

Further investigation showed the assault rifles ended up in the hands of communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Southern Mindanao.

The Office of the Ombudsman has recommended the filing of charges against police officials who failed to address the issue.

Three senators

In the middle of 2014, the PNP was confronted with another first when they had to lock up three senators – Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla – charged with plunder and graft in connection with the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam.

In the absence of a facility to accommodate the high profile lawmakers, the PNP rushed the construction of a four-door studio-type bungalow near the police Headquarters Support Service office. Revilla initially complained about the facility, which his camp described as “too small and too hot and with rats,” which he said would trigger and aggravate his migraine attacks.

Revilla was criticized for complaining about his detention, which is far better than the situation of inmates jampacked in regular jail facilities.

Some policemen were also relieved from the Custodial Center for allowing Revilla and his friends to hold a party until past midnight.

Several days later, accompanied by their families and supporters, Estrada and Enrile turned themselves in and submitted to regular booking processes.

Revilla and Estrada remain locked up inside the newly built Custodial Center while Enrile is under hospital arrest at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame.

Other high-profile personalities

The PNP scored in the effort to account for high profile personalities wanted by the law, including Delfin Lee, owner of Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. facing syndicated estafa.

Lee and his officers were charged by the government’s Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or PAG-Ibig Fund) and several homebuyers for the alleged irregular use of P7.03 billion worth of housing loans for Globe Asiatique’s Xevera housing projects in the towns of Mabalacat and Bacolor in Pampanga.

Lee is one of the “Big 5” wanted persons. The others are former Army general Jovito Palparan, former Palawan governor Joel Reyes and his brother Coron mayor Mario Reyes, and Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo Jr.

Palparan, who was later arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila, is charged with kidnapping and illegal detention of two UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno in 2006.

The Reyes siblings, on the other hand, are wanted for the murder of broadcaster Gerry Ortega, while Ecleo has been convicted of parricide.

Although Lee’s arrest by the PNP Task Force Tugis appeared to be an accomplishment, its chief Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa was subsequently transferred to Central Visayas.

The PNP said Capa’s transfer was a promotion but the officer believed otherwise.

The PNP also arrested rebel-couple Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, wanted for crimes committed by the New People’s Army (NPA).

Bad eggs

In the early part of the year, the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested Chief Inspector Bienvenido Reydado, the Pampanga CIDG chief who was caught for allegedly recycling shabu seized from suspected Chinese drug lords.

Reydado was arrested inside his CIDG office in Pampanga and was found in possession of P2.6 million in cash, five unlicensed high-powered firearms, 11 pistols, a rifle grenade and various magazines for different caliber weapons, five sports utility vehicles and two motorcycles.

Last Oct. 20, 2006, The STAR reported that Reydado was among the eight agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the PNP-Anti Illegal Drugs Special Task Force arrested in Quezon City after they were caught in the company of a former police officer wanted for kidnapping.

Reydado claimed he was cleared of the charges and maintained that he has evidence, including records of his anti-crime and anti-drug operations, which would bear him out in the proper forum.

While the PNP claimed its leadership has been pushing for genuine reform in the police force, another incident hit the headlines that gave the PNP another black eye.

Last Sept. 1, The STAR published a photo taken by a Twitter user showing several vehicles blocking and surrounding a Toyota Fortuner on EDSA. Several armed men, with weapons drawn, were pointing their guns at the occupants.

The EDSA incident turned out to be a “hulidap,” a ploy of crooked policemen acting in the guise of an operation but actually doing a robbery.

Initially, authorities thought it was a case of kidnapping. With the help of CCTV cameras installed along EDSA, the vehicles were traced to some members of the Quezon City Police District -La Loma Police Station.

Further investigation showed the incident was indeed a hulidap and at least 12 policemen, including several officials of the La Loma station, were implicated and relieved, and are now detained and facing charges.

Purisima and the PNP

Purisima himself has been in the headlines in 2014. Early this year, his name was dragged into the alleged P300-million anomalous deal with the courier service WerFast. The company was supposed to deliver the license cards of gun owners, a measure to prevent individuals from using fictitious address.

Some sectors questioned the deal since WerFast has apparently no capability to carry out the task and instead subcontracted the job another carrier service.

Purisima was said to have ties to the owner of WerFast.

The deal prompted the Sandiganbayan to slap Purisima and several other police officials with a six-month suspension.

Purisima was also criticized for receiving P12 million from his friends for the construction of the White House, the official residence of the PNP chief in Camp Crame.

Purisima’s properties and those of his wife and children were also exposed, including a 4.5-hectare property in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija.

Purisima maintained the house with a swimming pool and landscaped grounds was an ordinary property.

Crimes rates

Despite the controversies hounding the PNP leadership, authorities recorded a downtrend in crime statistics over the past weeks.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II said the holistic approach being used by the PNP in anti-crime efforts is apparently effective, reducing crime incidents from about 1,000 in June to about 500 cases in November.

Based on weekly crime statistics from the audited blotter, Roxas said from Nov. 24 to 30, there were 591 crime incidents in Metro Manila, including robbery and vehicle theft, while from Dec.1 to 7, there were only 525 cases.

He added the downtrend of crime incidents was also seen from Nov. 17 to 23 with 677 cases; Nov. 10 to 16 with 713 incidents.

Disasters

This year, policemen found themselves at the forefront of disasters as the PNP continued to assist families affected by disasters, the latest of which was Typhoon Ruby in early December.

All regional police offices were directed to deploy their personnel to assist in disaster risk reduction efforts of the local government units.

The PNP vowed to continue assisting victims affected by disasters.