Neutralized

The talk at Malacañang yesterday was that when President Arroyo learned of the death of Faisal Marohombsar, her order to her law enforcers was: "Huwag nyong lulunurin!" Meaning, she didn’t want Marohombsar’s corpse disappearing into the deep sea, like Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya. Otherwise she would be spending the rest of the year insisting that Marohombsar is dead, while the public would be demanding to see the body.

Marohombsar, founder of the Pentagon kidnapping gang, was shot on land, in Magallanes, Cavite. So there was a corpse to present for the President’s photo op, a bloodied face to compare with the mug shots of the man who made a daring escape from Camp Crame in June.

It’s tempting to say that this is what you get when you don’t surrender as the President has announced, and when you embarrass the incoming chief of the Philippine National Police by escaping from his unit’s detention cell. Next time beware when PNP chief Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. says you’re free to die if you want.

But then, few tears will be shed for Marohombsar, a notorious thug who has been in the kidnap-for-ransom business since 1989, when he teamed up with his relative Abugado Bago, alias Commander Mubarak of the Moro National Liberation Front. As I have written, when crooks like Marohombsar are taken out, Filipinos desperate for peace and order say good riddance.

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In the course of pursuing Marohombsar the combined police and military teams also rescued the young niece of ABS-CBN owner Gabby Lopez. The girl’s family was reportedly infiltrated by the Villaber kidnapping gang, one of whom was hired by the family as a driver. The gang is affiliated with Marohombsar’s group and the Fajardo crime ring, which was responsible for the kidnapping of Japanese businessman Noboyuki Wakaoji. The other version, however, is that the driver, who was with the girl when she was kidnapped, is not a suspect. Anyway, it won’t hurt to be very careful about people who apply as drivers — or even as maids.

You know the nation is in trouble when even the clan that owns the biggest broadcasting network in the country can fall victim to kidnapping. But at least the girl was rescued and the cops did their job.

If the police and military keep up with this kind of work, President GMA will find it easier to persuade the public that she means business in her anti-crime campaign. And if there are more kidnap victims rescued, the police will find it increasingly easier to get the cooperation of the citizenry, including relatives of kidnap victims.

For sure the President will also see her ratings improving, although she’ll probably insist that this isn’t the purpose of her high-profile campaign against criminality.

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The biggest hindrance to the anti-crime campaign, apart from this public insistence on seeing corpses before believing, is the involvement of law enforcers in crime gangs. Marohombsar was long suspected of enjoying the protection of military and police personnel, who received a share of his earnings from kidnapping. Such underworld characters, like Alfredo de Leon of the Red Scorpion Group and William Soronda of the Kuratong Baleleng Gang, live on borrowed time, "neutralized" by their protectors as soon as they become too hot to handle or when they have outlived their usefulness.

When Marohombsar escaped on June 19 from what was supposed to be a maximum security detention center of the anti-kidnapping task force headed by Ebdane, the suspicion was that Marohombsar was allowed to escape by cops themselves — cops working either for his protectors or for Ebdane’s rivals for the post of PNP chief.

Several of these rogue cops are still in the service. They are involved not only in kidnapping but also in carjacking and armed robbery. When such cops are neutralized, those are the photo ops the President should not miss.

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STATE-SANCTIONED SHAKEDOWN: Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila Development Authority should review the vehicle towing system.

Last Saturday noon a lawyer parked his Pajero between a tricycle and a dilapidated AUV operating as a food stall on Pines street, a two-lane street with very light traffic near Sheridan in Mandaluyong City, in front of the Orientique and Habitat showrooms.

Within minutes after entering Orientique the lawyer saw his van being towed. Boy, those guys move quicker than carjackers! The lawyer ran after his vehicle and managed to jump into tow truck No. 605 of the Sto. Niño Trucking Services, driven by Alex Lundang.

The apprehending enforcer, traffic enforcer George Castañeda, insisted the street was a tow-away zone. The lawyer said he saw no sign. Arguing with Castañeda and towing crew Alvin Revilla and Michael Pito, the lawyer asked why — if they were so worried about obstruction on a little used street — they did not tow the AUV. The reply (believe it or not): Because the AUV no longer had wheels (which is why you can’t even call it a mobile food stall). And why didn’t they tow away the tricycle? Because they did that only on Sundays.

The lawyer got back his van — which, like almost all towed vehicles, sustained scratches — after paying P1,200 to releasing officer Orlando Bion. The lawyer quickly went back to Pines street to look for any sign that it was a tow-away zone. The tricycle was still there. He finally saw the sign — a small, makeshift one like those signs advertising about lipat-bahay — high on a lamp post on a street corner.

Reminds you of those signs tacked high up on lamp posts or even on tree branches, meant not to be seen by unsuspecting motorists. Mulcting cops and traffic enforcers also keep themselves hidden, then pounce when a motorist violates the sign he doesn’t know exists. Meanwhile, no one arrests bus and truck drivers when they blatantly violate glaring traffic signs.

So buyers beware: if you’re planning to take a look at those items on sale at Orientique and Habitat on Pines street, better walk. Or else take a tricycle.

No wonder towing was banned in Manila’s tourist district. If there’s no place for clients to park, businesses might as well close shop. This towing system is often nothing but a shakedown sanctioned by the government. It’s even more lucrative — and safer — than carjacking.