MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police is aiming to clear its backlog of arrest warrants after accounting for about 200,000 wanted people over the past 14 months, leaving roughly 300,000 fugitives still on the PNP list.
PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said he had directed all regional police commanders to intensify operations to bring the number of wanted persons down to zero.
When Nartatez assumed office on Aug. 26, 2025, the PNP database listed about 500,000 people with outstanding arrest warrants.
The figure has since dropped by around 200,000, or an average of more than 14,000 warrants served monthly.
Last month, police arrested 8,839 fugitives nationwide, including 2,353 classified as most wanted and 6,486 others.
The National Capital Region Police Office led the tally with 1,641 arrests, followed by Police Regional Office 3 with 1,503 and PRO 4A with 1,317.
Among the high-value personalities still being hunted by the PNP are Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, former lawmaker Zaldy Co, businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang, former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag and suspects in the flood control corruption cases.
Nartatez said the campaign covers all individuals with standing arrest warrants, regardless of their status or position.
He said some fugitives are repeat offenders involved in multiple crimes, making their arrest crucial to crime prevention.
“We will not be satisfied with reducing the backlog since our ultimate objective is to bring it down to zero,” he said.