‘Kapitolyo crime’

Every time a new president comes into office it is usually followed by a reorganization in law enforcement agencies, particularly the PNP. Judging from the way security measures for the presidential inaugural was ramped up to the max, we can only assume certain top officials spared no expense and manpower and now that all went well, it’s only fair if some PNP generals start crowing in front of the media, hoping to be noticed and promoted for what, in truth, was a job well-done. I would, however, caution the new tenants in Malacañang as well as the incoming DILG Secretary Ben Abalos “the Son” to carefully filter the list of recommendations or candidates for promotions in order to avoid promotion by “domino effect” or resulting from press release.

Given what has been happening in our own village Barrio Kapitolyo in Pasig City since December, I am not inclined to support the idea of promotions. Ever since the easing of the COVID lockdowns, residents have noticed an increasing number of serious or disturbing crimes in the barangay, so much so that I refer to it as “Kapitolyo Crimes.” Seven months ago, Barrio Kapitolyo was in the news when a house being rented by a foreign national was broken into by several men who took P28 million intended for payment for a farm property. Barangay security and the community police managed to give chase, during which a shoot-out occurred, one suspect killed, five policemen from Taguig City arrested and only P18 million out of P28 million recovered. The five scalawag cops are under detention, but no one knows where the missing P10 million went.

Six months after the robbery, the family has decided to transfer to a safer location because they have been receiving threats that if they don’t withdraw the complaint, the accused cops would get back at them. The Pasig City police investigators have reportedly appealed to the family not to withdraw the complaint or be intimidated because the accused cops would just continue their criminal activities. The problem is, who would protect the family considering they were robbed by members of the police force?

Approximately three months after, a delivery van full of online orders was held up by motorcycle riders, with one of the criminals firing a shot at the delivery crew but missed. They reportedly took some P20,000 if not more. A few weeks ago, I learned that the money transfer outlet of Palawan that has been so helpful to workers and students in the neighborhood was held up, the security guard was taken by surprise, disarmed and only employees know how much money was taken. Just last week, an American lady who had recently rented a small studio in the village was walking home when a “riding in tandem” snatched her phone as she stood along the main road waiting for a ride.

Residents are now warning neighbors to be careful and be aware that pre-pandemic crimes are once again on the rise inside Barrio Kapitolyo. Our barangay officials along with the security forces are now challenged by the fact that the Lawton-Sta. Monica bridge has brought in a big volume of traffic and without increased police presence. Hoping to bring all of this to the attention of the PNP, Team AGENDA reached out to the PNP spokesperson, the Pasig City police and the Eastern Police District officials to guest on the program. Unfortunately, everybody was focused on making sure that the inauguration of BBM was spotless that we could not get anybody to respond to speak on the matter.

Coincidentally, last Monday, two employees of the MMDA who were involved in roadside clearing in the Taft-EDSA area were attacked by a mob of angry men and were nearly beaten to death. What stuck out in the lengthy video clips aired on TV and social media was the fact that there was no police presence or intervention. The whole incident only stopped when more MMDA personnel came to the rescue of their colleagues. The PNP obviously poured all their personnel into securing the presidential inauguration, effectively compromising public safety and peace and order.

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Vice President Sara Duterte is pushing hard for the restoration of ROTC in order to instill discipline and patriotism among Filipinos. VP Sara may not realize it but the best way to achieve her goal is to highlight or emphasize the subject of Good Manners and Right Conduct or GMRC through every grade from K to 12. The Japanese government, culture and people have done this before and after the 2nd World War and with the demilitarization of Japan post-war, they relied heavily on culture and education and are benefitting from it.

As the new secretary of education, VP Sara has six years to raise up a new generation of disciplined and patriotic students and citizens. Weekend military training that students don’t find relevant won’t instill discipline; law enforcement will. When people know you will be arrested for jaywalking, for public alarm and scandal, for littering, drinking in public, speeding, illegal parking, illegal use of blinkers and excessive use of horns etc., illegal use of government vehicles, abuse of power etc., there is no doubt that the certainty of arrest and punishment will get people to follow the law.

The question is, where are the cops? Many of them are inside air-conditioned offices and heavily tinted patrol cars or malls. As one frustrated PNP general told me, just because they have master’s degrees, they don’t want to be on foot patrol. The PNP is the missing link in our chain of discipline and humility, they need to enforce the laws to instill discipline, fear and respect for the law. I fully agree and support VP Sara’s call for discipline and patriotism, but in order to do that we need to enforce the law, start kids young and make sure government officials set the example.