PNP makes inroads against kidnap, bank robbery gangs

Faced with an uphill and almost insurmountable battle against kidnap-for-ransom groups this year, the Philippine National Police (PNP) is steadily chipping away at this menace to society.

The number of reported kidnappings has significantly decreased from 95 last year to 62 this year, or a 35 percent decline.

PNP statistics showed that out of the 62 kidnappings, the PNP was able to solve 35 cases and apprehend 154 members of various kidnap gangs.

PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, in his year-end report to President Arroyo, vowed that next year, the PNP will proceed with phase three of its anti-criminality program.

"Sustained and intensified manhunt operations against identified target groups and criminal syndicates will be prioritized next year," Ebdane said.

He added that the "highlight for the PNP this year is its success in its anti-kidnapping campaign and bank robbery operations."

When he assumed the PNP’s top post last June, Ebdane was given one year by Mrs. Arroyo to prioritize and finish off the kidnapping menace.

Ebdane immediately buckled down to work. After a series of anti-kidnapping summits held at Camp Crame in Quezon City, the PNP was able to identify at least 21 notorious kidnap for ransom groups actively operating in various parts of the country.

The PNP then went into action and drew first blood by running after ring members of the Fajardo kidnap-for-ransom group, headed by Rolly Fajardo of Canlubang, Calamba City in Laguna. They also went after the equally notorious P50-Million kidnapping gang, headed by Armando Bucala, a former bank security guard who was able to amass a fortune from these criminal activities.

Also in the PNP’s sights are remnants of the Solido and Kuratong Baleleng groups, and the New People’s Army, which gave the PNP, under the stewardship of now Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, a major headache.

Despite significant anti-kidnapping efforts made by the PNP under Mendoza, foremost of which was the gunning down of seven members of the Quezon-Laguna kidnapping group in a highway encounter with policemen in Quezon-Batangas, the menace never stopped.

As if taunting law enforcement agencies, high-profile abductions increased in Metro Manila, northern and southern Luzon and Mindanao.

Despite the outpouring of criticism from various groups, the PNP anti-kidnapping agents persisted until they turned the battle around with the arrest of Faisal Marohombsar through a joint operation by police and military anti-kidnapping agents in Quiapo early this year.

While detained at the detention cells of the defunct National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) with other kidnap suspects, Marohombsar staged a successful escape last June 19, days before Ebdane took over Mendoza’s post. He escaped along with kidnap suspects Rodolfo Patinio and Abdul Macaumbang.

Marohombsar’s daring and mysterious escape while under the custody of NAKTAF delivered a major blow to the government’s anti-kidnapping drive. Heads rolled at NAKTAF, which was renamed Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER).

The PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) hit back with intense and aggressive anti-kidnapping operations, which resulted in the killing of Marohombsar and the rescue in August of four-year-old Patricia Lopez-Cho, a daughter of a prominent family, in Magallanes, Cavite last Aug. 25.

Lopez-Cho was abducted by Marohombsar’s group inside posh Ayala Alabang village in Muntinlupa City on Aug. 19.

Patinio, also a principal suspect in the murder of self-styled spokesman of the Young Officers Union (YOU) Baron Cervantes, was later killed along with two of his cohorts in the Radam kidnap-for-ransom gang during a rescue operation in Cavite conducted by PNP agents.

The President, as part of her hands-on policy against organized crime, went to the scene where Faisal and Patinio were killed during the encounter, a move which drew criticism from the political opposition.

Macaumbang remains at large to this day.

Following Lopez-Cho’s successful rescue and Faisal’s killing by police agents, another high-profile abduction happened in Metro Manila after heavily armed men snatched Kristina Ledesma, 10, and her five-year-old brother Carlo. The armed men flagged down the sports utility vehicle of their father, Negros Occidental Rep. Jules Ledesma, along a busy street in San Juan last June 13.

The Ledesma children were released four days later by their kidnappers near the Makati Medical Center after several days of negotiations, ending in the payoff of an undetermined amount to the suspects — giving birth to a phrase in anti-kidnapping jargon, "the tried and tested formula."

Enforcing other laws

In other fields of law enforcement, police statistics showed that the PNP was also able to lower incidents of bank robberies this year to only two incidents, as compared to 13 the previous year.

However, the PNP noted a 63 percent increase in armored van robberies — 44 incidents for this year compared to 27 in 2001.

Senior Superintendent Paul Bataoil, PNP spokesman, attributed the decline in bank robberies to joint security efforts by the police, bank security guards and their agencies.

From January until early December this year, the PNP anti-carjacking efforts resulted in the arrest of 325 car thieves and recovery of 871 stolen vehicles, amid an average of 5.8 cars stolen daily nationwide.

The PNP Traffic Management Group (TMG) reported a decline of six percent in cars lost due to thievery – 2, 065 cars were stolen in 2001, while only 1,937 cars were lost this year, with 131 criminal cases filed in court.

While the TMG was able to neutralize 14 carjacking syndicates in 2001, this year the PNP anti-carjacking unit reported to have busted 11 organized carjacking rings that resulted in the recovery of 871 stolen cars this year as compared to 635 last year, or an average of 37 percent recovery rate this year.

In the field of anti-narcotics operations, this year’s police statistics showed that the PNP-Narcotics Group, before the creation of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), was able to conduct 12,436 anti-drug operations; 9,279 raids, 173 anti-marijuana operations; neutralized six big-time drug syndicates; filed 20,500 cases in court against the drug suspects, and accounted for a total of P1.2 billion worth of illegal drugs nationwide.

The PNP was able to round up 45,714 fugitives from the law, killed 24 of them and accepted the surrender of 673 wanted people nationwide.

Statistics also showed that the PNP was able to account for 5,884 loose firearms and disband six private armed groups. They also filed 3,776 cases in court against the holders of these loose firearms nationwide.

Ebdane said the PNP will also build a database for specific crimes to consolidate information for easy counter-police actions.

He also informed the President that he will continue with institutional reforms he started this year, focusing on systems innovations and service initiatives, reviewing operations on a continuing basis to ensure that these procedures are responsive to realities on the ground.

The PNP will also continue to build up the Council of Community Elders as part of its network of neighborhood partnerships, which it started this year.

Ebdane said the PNP will also embark on education, training and benefits programs for policemen. The training will focus on anti-terrorism and police-community relations, as well as reviewing and fine-tuning police doctrines to improve policemen’s operational efficiency.

"We will continue with our jobs as public servants and the (public) can rest assured that the PNP will, more than ever, be respectful of their rights, friendly and approachable," Ebdane said, as he vowed to purge the PNP’s ranks of misfits and scalawags.

He added that in 2002 the PNP "almost attained" their main objectives – ridding the country of kidnap for ransom and bank robbery groups.

"Hopefully, next year all these criminal acts will be greatly diminished, if not totally eliminated," Ebdane said.