|
Monday, October 27, 2008
Police, group voice support for PNP chief
MANILA -- Police personnel are rallying behind their chief, Jesus Versoza, to show their unity and support for the Philippine National Police (PNP) leadership at the height of the Moscow controversy.
Police regional offices in Mindanao and Cordillera issued their respective manifestos to express support for PNP chief Versoza and give assurance to remain unaffected by developments regarding the Senate probe into the Moscow incident.
What's your take on the Mindanao crisis? Discuss views with other readers
All six PNP regional offices in Mindanao remain on full alert.
The respective regional, provincial, and city directors vowed they will "remain focused on the law enforcement and internal security mission" despite the organization's negative public impression as "convenient whipping boy by some quarters".
PNP Spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said more manifestations of support to the PNP leadership are expected from other PNP units, local government, non-government organizations (NGOs), and civil society groups.
Bartolome also echoed the call of the PNP leadership to all units and personnel to "focus on the tasks at hand and properly orient themselves to the accomplishment of the mission".
"The issues that are somehow diverting our attention from our normal law enforcement and peacekeeping functions must be left for the concerned PNP officers to address," Bartolome reiterated Versoza's pronouncement on Saturday.
In Manila, for the first time, an anti-crime watchdog composed mostly of kidnapping victims, has come out to publicly express their trust and support for the PNP leadership.
"The MRPO (Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order) family express our full support to Chief PNP Versoza, and we hope that a solid bond will be created between us and the PNP," William Ho, chairman of the Binondo-based MRPO said.
Versoza was a guest in a luncheon get-together hosted by MRPO members held in Intramuros, Manila on Sunday. The meeting was attended by Tessie Ang-See and other MRPO officials, including family members and victims of kidnapping-for-ransom incidents who were rescued by the PNP.
"We are coming out in public and having our pictures taken as a manifestation of our trust and confidence in the commitment of the PNP to protect us from becoming victims again," Ho said.
The MRPO welcomed the report of Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina, chief of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (Pacer), that there are only nine verified kidnapping-for-ransom cases recorded since January this year.
"These cases are not even half of the 24 cases reported in 2007, and is the lowest rate recorded since 1999 or the entire nine-year period when there was an annual average of 55 reported cases," Espina said. (VR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (October 27, 2008 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
Engineer falls in entrapment