EDITORIAL — ‘Case solved’

When can a crime case be considered solved?

For crime victims or their relatives, solution is equated with justice rendered. This means arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating the offender following conviction, and ensuring that the offender remains behind bars.

This concept of crime solution is important particularly in a country that has seen too many cases of fall guys being arrested, and of real offenders getting away or even being protected from arrest by coddlers in law enforcement agencies.

Former police colonel Rafael Dumlao, for example, is suspected to be enjoying the protection of law enforcers including his wife, a year after his conviction as the mastermind in the ransom kidnapping and grisly execution of a South Korean businessman right inside Camp Crame, headquarters of the Philippine National Police. Dumlao’s wife and family are enjoying the fruits of the P5-million ransom he collected.

The PNP should be cautious in declaring the solution of a crime, particularly a high-profile case that has generated public anger and fear for personal safety. Especially when several principal suspects remain at large.

Such is the case in the kidnapping and execution of steel magnate Anson Que and his driver Armanie Pabillo. With the arrest of a Chinese national and two Filipinos, the chief of the PNP has declared the case solved.

On the other hand, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. wants all suspects in the gruesome crime to be caught and a full investigation carried out. The PNP has said that two other Chinese nationals tagged as principals in the crime are still being hunted down.

Business groups had earlier disputed reports attributed to the PNP that Que, also known in the business community as Anson Tan, was involved in Philippine offshore gaming operations or POGOs. Urged by the PNP chief to remain calm, members of the Chinese-Filipino community stressed that calm would be possible only if the suspects are caught and kidnappings stopped.

Apart from catching at least the two other principals, authorities must follow the money trail and recover the substantial ransom, which Que’s relatives reportedly paid in cryptocurrency. Any person or entity involved in laundering that dirty money must also be caught and punished. Failure to do so will invite more kidnappings and breed impunity.

The PNP can be commended for the arrest of the three suspects in the killing of Anson Que and Armanie Pabillo. The public awaits more arrests, and the successful prosecution of the perpetrators.