3 NCRPO officials sacked for underreporting crimes

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima has relieved three chiefs of police in Metro Manila for underreporting crimes in their areas of jurisdiction, an official said yesterday.

In an order effective Oct. 8, Purisima removed Senior Superintendents Rodolfo Llorca of Pasay City, Florendo Quibuyen of Mandaluyong City and Arthur Felix Asis of Taguig City from their posts.

The three officials will also face a pre-charge investigation by the PNP’s Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) for underreporting as much as 60 percent of the total number of crimes from January to June this year.

Llorca assumed his post on Nov. 10, 2012 while Quibuyen and Asis took over their posts in January.

“They are now being investigated by the DIDM for their lapses. Once they are found guilty, the worst penalty would be dismissal from the police service,” said Deputy Director General Felipe Rojas, the PNP’s deputy chief for operations.

Rojas said it is now up to National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. to implement the relief order.

More heads to roll

DIDM chief Director Don Montenegro earlier recommended the relief of the three city police chiefs and six others, but the latter were “given another chance” after it was found out that they were not yet at their posts when the DIDM validated the reports made by their units.

The six officials’ predecessors are facing a pre-charge investigation, Rojas said.

He identified them as Superintendent Jaime Afalla, former Sampaloc, Manila station chief; Superintendent Reynaldo Tumalad, former Malate, Manila station chief; Senior Superintendent Andre Felix, former Parañaque police chief; Senior Superintendent Bernard Tambaoan, former San Juan police chief; Superintendent Marcelo Pedroso, former chief of the Kamuning, Quezon City police station; and Superintendents Ramon Pranada and Ronnie Montejo, former commanders of the Cubao, Quezon City police station.

Purisima ordered the DIDM to countercheck the crime incidence reports of police units all over the country. Since it was the first time the program was being implemented, he allowed a 30-percent discrepancy in crime incidents reported by police officials and those validated by the DIDM.

The DIDM reported that the Cubao police station failed to report 62.5 percent of crimes in its area; the Mandaluyong City police, 61.2 percent; the Pasay City police, 56.1 percent; the Sampaloc station, 52.4 percent; the San Juan City police, 44.4 percent; the Malate station, 43 percent; the Parañaque City police, 41.8 percent; the Taguig City police, 36.2 percent; and the Kamuning station, 30.3 percent;

Montenegro said majority of the nine police stations did not include in their reports the traffic accidents and the cases handled by the women’s and children protection desks.

“It was observed that some police stations did not indicate the nature of the cases in the blotters. The records is only limited to narration of facts and in some cases the records are unreadable,” said Montenegro in his four-page report. “Moreover, cases reported in the police blotters which were referred to the barangays are not being monitored.”

Montenegro said the cases recorded in the barangay blotters contributed to an average of 50 percent to the total crime volume that should be reported by a police station.