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Monday, December 08, 2003
10T cops, soldiers to patrol Metro Manila
By Miko Santos
MANILA -- Some 10,000 policemen and soldiers will patrol the streets of Metro Manila, starting Monday, in line with government's three-pronged plan of action to curb kidnapping and high profile crimes.
National Capital Region (NCR) Police Director Ricardo de Leon said Sunday the deployment of additional policemen in Manila's streets is a priority order in his operational plan.
"We need more officers on the beat, not at the offices. They should be seen more on the streets as part of our walk-the-beat system," Chief Superintendent de Leon added.
A police special anti-crime task force said in a statement that the deployment of police and soldiers in "different strategic areas all over Metro Manila" is "to curb criminality, particularly kidnapping incidents."
Starting at 8 a.m., policemen will be working in three shifts to stop and inspect vehicles for the purpose of "neutralizing crime suspects and preempting crimes," de Leon said.
De Leon added they will be manning "chokepoints" or stationary checkpoints and conducting mobile checkpoints in eleven so-called corridors leading to Metro Manila in accordance with President Arroyo's directive for police to "walk the beat" and establish more outposts to stop the rash of kidnappings of mostly Chinese-Filipinos.
Apart from sending more policemen on patrol, police in the metropolis will also actively support the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (Naktaf) by deploying 516 members of the elite Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team on an anti-kidnapping watch.
De Leon said the Swat men would be riding tandem on motorcycles for better mobility. In addition, the NCR police office will establish satellite stations in selected sectors of Metro Manila, where victims of crimes can immediately seek police assistance.
This, he said, is part of the police's target-hardening tactics, aimed at stopping criminals from entering Metro Manila or from leaving the metropolis following the commission of a crime like kidnapping or bank robbery.
De Leon said the new measures are in line with his action plan for his first 100 days in office.
The action plan will set the pace for police operations against crime groups for the Yuletide season when the number of crimes is expected to rise.
The 10,000 policemen, who will all come from the NCR police office, will be backed by the military's NCR Command, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Traffic Management Group (TMG), among other agencies.
Two hundred soldiers from the Army's 80th Infantry Battalion will help police man the checkpoints, while another 100 Marines will join in conducting patrols, said Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, Armed Forces information officer.
Meanwhile, President Arroyo said authorities were winning the battle against the wave of kidnappings.
In her weekly radio message, Arroyo recounted a week of killings, drug busts and unmasking scoundrels in uniform, while underscoring the gains in her administration's fight to restore law and order, a primary issue in the elections next year.
"Our strategy is succeeding and our patrol operators are generating positive results. We have stopped the rise in criminality and we will continue with our work to maintain peace and order," Arroyo said.
Arroyo stepped up anti-crime efforts, gave in to the clamor to re-impose the death penalty and ordered a reorganization of the PNP during a week in which new survey results showed her ranking poorly among presidential aspirants, amid mounting public concern over the breakdown in law and order.
(December 8, 2003 issue)
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