Camp Crame to intensify efforts vs private armies

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) will intensify checkpoint operations to account for at least 800 members of 60 private armies across the country.

The checkpoints would be put up in areas where these private armies are operating to prevent them from harassing residents and voters in the May 2013 elections, said PNP Deputy Director General Alan Purisima, who is touted to be the next PNP chief.

Purisima said they would also serve arrest warrants for members of private armies, many of whom are facing criminal charges.

Validation by the PNP Directorate for Intelligence showed that there are 60 active private armies all over the country with at least 800 members, while 47 other groups are for “further validation.”

“We will prioritize the (private armies which) are on the active list while the remaining 47 that have some 600 members would be our secondary targets,” Purisima said.

He said some private armies are also engaged in kidnappings and big-time robberies.

“We are hoping to account for the big number of these (private army) members before the start of the campaign period so we could have  peaceful and orderly May 2013 elections,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel, Eastern Police District director, said Prudencio Britanico, 44, Abra’s most wanted and a member of the private army of a local politician, and a companion, Robert Villastiqui, 39, were arrested last Sunday at a trucking service firm along Amang Rodriguez Avenue in Barangay De la Paz.

Laurel said Britanico, who yielded a pistol and a magazine loaded with 13 bullets, had a P250,000 bounty. Britanico was nabbed on the strength of an arrest warrant for murder issued by Judge Jaime Dojillo of the Abra regional trial court.

Villastiqui, for his part, is facing four counts of attempted homicide in Abra.