A lot of people reading newspapers and listening to television and radio commentators may believe that Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Alan La Madrid Purisima is guilty of the charges filed against him with the Ombudsman. Summing up this sector’s perception, private citizen Romeo G. David declares that the PNP chief’s seeing nothing wrong in his actions of accepting “donations” and “favors” is “disturbing,” and clearly indicative of corruption — “any way you look at it.” It is more disturbing, continues David, “when it is cavalierly practiced and defended by the top management officer of any organization. Even more so if it will be tolerated and left unchecked (and thus) send the wrong signal to the governed and supervised that corruption is OK and tolerated if you are in top management.”
A group of us women in media sat down with the beleaguered PNP chief to hear his side, and came off believing that he is being done a demolition job. Some of his detractors are either interested in the PNP chief’s job, are businessmen opposed to the reforms he started since heading the organization, or are simply shooting at President Aquino by shooting down his top men. To be sure there are those who simply want to know if Purisima is doing a good job and must stay in his post.
Purisima reiterated what he told the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs that the “mansion” that he supposedly owns is an “ordinary” house which media has reported as costing from P20 to P50 million. The house stands on a 4.7-hectare property that he paid P150,000 for in 1998 and that the P3.75 million value of the property in his 2013 SALN already included everything spent on the house construction and the property’s appreciation in value through the years. The cost of renovating the house from time to time came from the chief’s salary of P107,000 a month and that of his wife Lydia, who works in an insurance company dealing with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. He asked the media to look at the property and assess its value.
He mentioned sources of income, like a poultry farm that he owns in partnership with a friend. His eldest son, an electronic engineer by training, runs the farm which raises and supplies 40,000 chickens on contractual basis. Another source is a trucking business hauling sand and stones that does not operate everyday.
On his being maligned for the renovation of the “White House,” the official residence of the PNP chief, he clarified that actually a totally different building was built beside the old one, through the donations of friends, without extra cost to the PNP or the government. The construction was necessary as the property was flooded knee-high during typhoons. For another bigger thing, all succeeding PNP chiefs will be using the property.
He talked about the PNP’s Firearms and Explosives Unit as being the center of corruption in the AFP, and in putting it in order, he de-commissioned the well-entrenched syndicates whose rackets in firearms licensing were affected by reforms he initiated. It was easy to buy guns before, he said; one only paid an amount, and the syndicate would secure the permit for him. It’s probably the people behind this syndicates who are behind the demolition job against him.
Purisima also ran smack against syndicates issuing fake ID cards of security guards as well as the permits to carry firearms outside of one’s residence.
He admitted the existence of scalawags in the PNP. He said he cracked the whip on erring policemen, including the officer involved in the Atimonan incident, those participating in the EDSA “hulidap,” and the drug bust in Region 3. He was out of town when he learned about the hulidap. “I knew the police were involved,” he said.
Most crimes committed are related to drugs, the general said.
He said crimes would be quickly solved if the wheels of justice moved swiftly, if crimes committed are punished, and if the jail system is improved. He said, “Everything is wrong about our jail system. If you want to get out of jail, you just text someone, and you can get out of jail.”
He was asked why criminality is on the rise, what with innumerable reports hogging the print and electronic media on stabbings, killings by men riding motorcycles in tandem, carnapping, and robbery. Purisima said more crimes are reported now as compared to the past, when policemen underreported statistics to impress their superiors of the low crime rate in their areas. But this is changing now. He is encouraging the public to file charges against erring policemen. He agreed that some people do not trust policemen because they believe they are extortionists and scalawags.
He said that as envisioned in the PNP Patrol Plan of 2030, “We aim to have a highly capable, effective and credible police service, working in partnership with a responsive community towards the attainment of a safer place to live, work and do business. We will not rest until this is realized.”
He is not in favor of returning police enforcement to the mayors. “Our mayors are not politically mature (to handle the job).”
Nor is he in favor of reviving the death penalty, which he says does not deter criminal intentions.
Alan’s father was a police investigator in San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur. A product of the public school system, for college, Alan went to the Philippine Military Academy in 1977. After graduation, he joined the AFP, and rose steadily to high positions, his accomplishments including revising the PNP criminal investigation manual, and, as regional director of the NCRPO, introducing “individual performance” as the key to the success of the entire organization. He and his team established the three-pronged approach: Service to the People, Service to the Community, and Service to Fellow Police Officers.
In February 2012, he was bestowed the Cavalier Award for Command and Administration — a rare accomplishment, as few PMA alumni are conferred awards for both in the field of police operation and in command and administration.
He was appointed PNP chief on Dec. 12, 2012. He has 13 months to go before he retires at the age of 56. And he will not retire, just to give in to the demands of his accusers.
“I’m not turning my back on my sworn duty,” he told the Senate committee. “I will not let evil triumph. I will continue my service to the nation.”
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Email: dominitorrevillas@gmail.com