EDITORIAL - Solve this one

Each time the Philippine National Police announces that the crime rate is down or that the crime solution rate is up, the public either laughs or yawns. One reason is that while crimes are being solved and suspects who have not been tortured into admitting felonies are being arrested, some of the most sensational cases are still awaiting solution.

There’s the murder of actress Nida Blanca, where the principal suspect made a dramatic recantation of his admission. In February labor leader Felimon Lagman was murdered. Going farther back, there’s the abduction and murder of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito. Investigators have apprehended several suspects but are no closer to the mastermind of the grisly crime.

Even farther back there’s the disappearance of Edgar Bentain, the casino worker who sneaked out a videotape of then presidential candidate Joseph Estrada playing high-stakes baccarat at a casino VIP pit together with alleged gambling lord Atong Ang. Since no remains have been found, Bentain’s relatives aren’t even sure yet if he’s dead. A self-styled star witness took law enforcers on a wild goose chase across the lahar-devastated areas of Central Luzon, undertaking diggings so extensive residents feared anti-lahar dikes would collapse.

Then there were the simultaneous bombings on Dec. 30 last year in Metro Manila, which left 22 people dead on a Light Rail Transit train in Manila, in Quezon City and Makati. Suspects rounded up in a Muslim community in Metro Manila were later ordered freed by a court. To this day no one knows who ordered the bombings.

Several of these crimes were perpetrated in the previous administration. But public frustration over police failure to solve the crimes has carried over to the current crop of PNP officers. The Nida Blanca case has not helped improve public perception of the PNP.

The other day police found a time bomb between two buildings in Makati. The bomb was safely detonated, but the evacuation of surrounding buildings created a monstrous traffic mess in the area. Those who planted those explosives must be caught, not just to improve the PNP’s image but also to make sure the culprits won’t one day stage a successful bomb attack.