NCRPO: No letup in enforcing ordinances

MANILA, Philippines — There will be no letup in the police campaign to enforce city ordinances in the country, especially in Metro Manila, an official said yesterday.

National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar said while the death of Genesis “Tisoy” Argoncillo at the holding cell of Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 4 put the NCRPO in a bad light, he insisted the police had nothing to do with his death.

“The death of Argoncillo hindered a bit our campaign to rid the street of violators of city ordinances but it did not stop us from enforcing the law,” he said in an interview.

“We will learn from our initial mistakes and we at the NCRPO kept on reminding our men not to resort to shortcuts in implementing the law on city ordinances to prevent a repeat of the Argoncillo’s case,” Eleazar added.

The Philippine National Police’s anti-loitering campaign drew flak following Argoncillo’s death. President Duterte, apparently referring to the PNP as “such fools,” said he wanted police officers to accost, not arrest, tambays.

Eleazar insisted that they have witnesses testifying that Argoncillo was beaten to death by two fellow inmates. Murder charges were filed against Justine Mercado and Richard Bautista, both members of the Sputnik Gang, before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office.

According to Eleazar, they expect more witnesses to come out to further strenghten their case against Mercado and Bautista.

The QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit has yet to submit its report on why police officers failed to stop Argoncillo from being beaten to death.

Eleazar claimed that Argoncillo’s death did not affect their campaign against violators of city ordinances.

He reminded his men to exercise “sound judgment” by releasaing persons they arrested once it was proven that they have no criminal records on their files.

The NCRPO chief explained that there are cities in Metro Manila wherein a person arrested for violating city ordinances were simply issued tickets and directed to pay their fines at the city treasurer’s office.

However, in Pasay City, a person arrested for city ordinance violation was charged in court and it is up to the judge to set bail.

“The PNP are not the ones who made the laws but the local government units. We are only implementing them to the letter,” Eleazar said.

Meanwhile, at least 82 persons were rounded up by the Manila Police District from 5 a.m. Sunday until around 5 a.m. yesterday for violating city ordinances prohibiting drinking in public places, vagrancy, gambling, and urinating in public, according to MPD spokesman Superintendent Erwin Margarejo. – With Rey Galupo