Termination and disposal - SKETCHES by Ana Marie Pamintuan

If you want "the peace of the graveyard" (with apologies to a gung-ho commander-in-chief) for kidnappers, burglars and other lowlifes, you’re likely to be a supporter of "termination and disposal." That’s the term used by Director General Leandro Mendoza, chief of the Philippine National Police, for a special type of police operation.

Mendoza, who got his fourth star and permanent appointment to the top PNP post recently, concedes that termination and disposal operations offer a form of swift justice that some quarters support even in this democratic country. He also concedes that such gruesome operations can earn high praise and even promotions for the police personnel involved: "Nakapatay ka na, na-promote ka pa, pogi ka pa."

Mendoza is no stranger to termination and disposal. In 1970, barely a year after graduating from the Philippine Military Academy, he was assigned to the Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command. Among the units under this was the Metrocom Intelligence and Security Group or MISG under Rolando Abadilla, the most dreaded unit during the Marcos regime, which became notorious for termination and disposal. Mendoza stayed with Metrocom for 16 years, handling investigation and intelligence before moving on, becoming PC provincial commander of Rizal.

As PNP chief, Mendoza prefers to wean the police away from such operations. Some quarters may view this as a sign of weakness; many will be impatient for results. But in the long run, it minimizes the risk of getting the wrong suspects and allowing the true crooks to go scot-free. Also, as we have seen in some celebrated cases, termination and disposal can be easily abused by cops.

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Mendoza has no illusions that he can completely stop this practice during his watch. But he hopes to institute significant reforms to make the PNP more professional and in step with modern law enforcement. He is moving to acquire more equipment for scientific investigation and evidence gathering, including such basic stuff as fingerprinting technology. The crime laboratory needs upgrading, and facilities must be accessible to all the regions nationwide.

Modernization will require special or additional training for cops, many of whom don’t even know how to preserve evidence in a crime scene. Obviously it will also require substantial funds, but Mendoza is hoping that the PNP can get the support of Congress and private groups.

He has managed to get congressional sponsors for proposed reforms he drew up during his many months in the proverbial freezer. In consultation with police offi-cers, Mendoza is proposing a magna carta for the PNP that lays down the duties, obligations and rights of the police. The magna carta improves the promotion system and standardizes benefits for cops.

Mendoza laments that the PNP, created in 1990 out of the PC-Integrated National Police, has not yet developed a civilian "police culture" that is oriented toward crime prevention and the maintenance of peace and order.

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The PNP will need to speed up its modernization and professionalization programs if it wants to tackle more than pickpockets and the Akyat-Bahay burglary gang. It must deal with increasingly sophisticated transnational criminals such as those involved in drug trafficking and the flesh trade.

Mendoza points out that there are offenses still in need of Philippine laws to classify them as crimes. These include certain forms of money laundering and cyber crimes. How can cops crack down on activities that aren’t even classified as felonies in this country?

Read Time magazine’s April 6 issue and worry. It features a Pinoy hacker code-named Eyestrain who steals credit card data from the Internet. So far he has built up his expensive hacker equipment using stolen data. Time estimates that there are about a thousand of these hackers now wreaking havoc in our country. They have reportedly hacked the sites of a phone company and even the Philippine Navy. Those of you who felt pride in learning that a Pinoy was responsible for the Love Bug virus won’t be so happy to find that your credit card company has billed you for an iMac you never ordered.

How does the PNP deal with these lowlifes? Not through termination and disposal.

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BUZZ: Cops looking for businessman and Erap crony Dante Tan of Best World Resources notoriety should ask actor Rudy Fernandez for help. The talk is that Rudy has received P15 million worth of reasons to have an idea of Tan’s whereabouts.