Comendador: Policemen not obliged to give to reward fund

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Provincial Police Office director Patrocinio Comendador yesterday clarified that the amount he intends to collect from his men to raise the reward he plans to offer for the arrest of Bella Ruby Santos is not compulsory.

Comendador said he will not force the policemen under his command to contribute to the P50,000 amount he targeted to raise.

“This will not be compulsory in their part, but we want to raise the amount. Positive man sad ilang feedback aning butanga,” Comendador told reporters.

According to him, the idea came from the majority of the chiefs of police under the CPPO.

“Ang amo lang mag-raise mi og P50,000. After ana, wa na mi,” Comendador said.

The fundraising is CPPO’s effort to expedite the arrest of Santos who has been wanted along with her British boyfriend Ian Charles Griffiths for the kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique in February.

The court has issued a warrant of arrest for kidnapping with homicide against them and they have been wanted since July 10.

Comendador, who is also the spokesperson of Task Force Ellah Joy, said the fundraising is purely a police effort.

“I didn’t even ask other groups because we might be misconstrued na mangayo mi then among dakpon then kami mapasanginlan. This is purely kwarta sa kapulisan,” he said.

He however did not discount the possibility of accepting donations from other sectors later.

“For the meantime, kami lang usa sa pulis,” he said.

On the impression that they are already getting desperate to arrest Santos, Comendador said this has been a process in the PNP organization to coordinate with the community.

“Remember that the police is the community and the community is the police. We exist because of the community. And most of our arrests are through the information provided by the community. Ang police dili man jud na sila makadakop na ila-ila lang,” Comendador said.

He also defended the police’s special attention given to the case setting aside other cases.

“This is a heinous crime, very sensational. Nakita nato na gani sa ubang sensational crime dali ra kaayo nang usa ka-buwan na daghan na kaayong mo-volunteer hatag og reward especially sa biktima na medyo may kaya,” Comendador said.

“Pero kini gud karon, ang biktima nakita nato ang kapabilibidad, di sad kaayo… We have to help them. Mao ni nakita nato usa ka-pamaagi na mapadali og dangat ang sakto na information ngadto sa kapulisan,” he added.

According to Comendador, there is nothing unusual to this fundraising effort.

“Usahay labi nag basta dagko-dagko ang pondo, pero kami nga gamay ra og pondo, mag amot-amot mi,” he explained.

The bounty will be contributed by 51 police stations and units, depending on their monthly operational allowance, without hampering their operations, Comendador said.

Comendador said they are now pursuing leads as to the whereabouts of Santos who they believe is still in the country. (FREEMAN)