Police chiefs told: ‘Neutralize’ crime gangs

MANILA, Philippines - National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Carmelo Valmoria yesterday ordered Metro Manila’s five district directors to “neutralize” crime gangs in their jurisdiction.

He said members of these gangs should be jailed or sent on the run so they could not target shoppers during the Christmas season.

“We have our list but we can’t divulge them as yet as we are still in the process of validating them. But I assure you that once we confirm their existence, our operation to neutralize them would immediately commence,” Valmoria said in an interview.

He said all operations against crime gangs should be “intelligence-driven” to prevent innocent persons from being hauled into jail.

Valmoria said the campaign against crime gangs is part of the NCRPO’s effort to further reduce the crime rate in the metropolis during the “ber” months.

He earlier reported that the crime rate in Metro Manila dropped to 660 cases last week, from 700 incidents last June 15, when the NCRPO started evaluating the weekly performance of its district directors and station commanders.

Since the performance evaluation started 16 weeks ago, four district directors and 14 station commanders have been sacked for being remiss in the fight against crime.

Valmoria will meet with five district directors tomorrow to assess their performance in the war against crime during the 17th week of the NCRPO’s performance evaluation system.

San Juan has new OIC

Meanwhile, the San Juan City police has a new officer-in-charge (OIC), Senior Superintendent Job Marasigan, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1983.

Marasigan replaced Superintendent Jose Rivera, who was OIC for at least three months after city police chief Senior Superintendent Joselito Daniel was investigated after a security guard took a lawyer hostage and killed both the lawyer and himself.

Rivera was replaced by Marasigan following the former’s failure to solve the rape-slay of an 11-month-old girl on Aug. 1 and the killing of a beerhouse owner last month.

Mayor Guia Gomez said Marasigan’s appointment as OIC is temporary since he is also the Eastern Police District’s deputy chief for operations. She said she has asked the Philippine National Police to send her a list of candidates for the appointment of a permanent police chief for the city.