Policing the police

Exactly a year ago yesterday, the people of Zamboanga City were awakened very early morning by bursts of mortar fire and barrage of gunfire. They would later realize their City Hall was under siege by disgruntled elements of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Last year’s uprising by MNLF renegades was purportedly in retaliation to the government’s ignoring their leader, erstwhile MNLF chairman Nur Misuari in the Bangsamoro peace process. That was not the first time Misuari pulled this stunt. Earlier, he did the same thing when the government continued the peace process in Mindanao with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a splinter group of the MNLF.

As far as the MNLF faction that continues to support Misuari is concerned, the Philippine government remains bound to honor and respect the 1996 peace agreement signed during the administration of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

Nonetheless, this did not stop the administration of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III to proceed with its own peace initiatives in Mindanao. On October 12, 2012, the Aquino administration forged the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro with the MILF.

For nearly three weeks, there was sporadic fighting between government forces with Misuari’s MNLF faction. Dubbed as the “Zambo siege,” it ended with more than 240 dead and about 11,000 residents of Zamboanga City left homeless after their houses were burned down by the rebels to cover their escape. Misuari remains at large.

Gallant officers and men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) fought hard to prevent the pillage by Misuari loyalists considered as mere criminal bandits. The PNP deployed its Special Action Forces (SAF) to augment the military troopers to successfully put back peace and order in Zamboanga peninsula.

One of those who prominently figured in that battle was then SAF Director Carmelo Valmoria. Fresh from his Zambo siege stint, Valmoria was named in December last year to head the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO). A member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1982, Valmoria was promoted from SAF Director to two-star Police General as NCRPO chief.

Battle-tested Valmoria is now faced perhaps with the most difficult job of being assigned in the jungles of Metro Manila.

The NCRPO chief has to wage the anti-crime battle against criminals within their own ranks at the PNP. They are engaged in lucrative crimes from gun-for-hire to kidnap-for-ransom; carjacking syndicates to illicit drugs, not to mention “huli-dap” to jueteng payola and other illegal gambling operations.

The latest case of policemen moonlighting as gun-for-hire is PO2 Edgar Angel, the self-confessed killer of international car racer Enzo Pastor. Angel earlier admitted to the murder of the victim for P100,000, paid by Pastor’s friend who supposedly had a love affair with the wife of the slain car racer.   

Last Monday, however, Angel retracted and accused his arresting policemen from Quezon City Police District (QCPD) of forcing him to admit to the crime. Angel claimed the QCPD headed by Chief Superintendent Richard Albano were pressed to solve the ambush-murder of Pastor for fear of losing their posts after President Aquino cited this unsolved crime in his state of the nation address last July.

Now, Angel may even likely earn windfall from his retraction. This will certainly weaken the case against the suspected brains behind the murder of Pastor.

And the most brazen case of “huli-dap” came to light. A “hulidap” is street parlance to describe an activity passed on as legitimate police operation but was only a ploy of dirty cops to grease money from their victims. Unfortunately for these dirty cops, a civic-minded citizen caught their nefarious deed.

Passing by chance, the witness took a photo by mobile phone while four vehicles — two Toyota Fortuners, a Toyota van and a Honda City Sedan — were at full stop along a busy road on EDSA Mandaluyong in broad daylight last September 1. The Honda doors were opened and at least four men poked their guns at one of the Toyota Fortuners.

Initially, the PNP was clueless what crime took place. PNP Director-General Alan Purisima reportedly put up Task Force Wack-Wack, headed by Senior Superintendent Job Marasigan, to solve the case. Speaking of Purisima, the PNP chief is reportedly recuperating from a recent minor surgery to remove a polyp from his nose, which explains his absence in the past days.

The name Task Force Wack-Wack was perhaps in reference to where the incident took place near the private golf course in Mandaluyong City. Ironically, however, if used in our language, this would spell “wakwak,” meaning destroyed or damaged. That is how PNP would come out when this case turned out to be a “huli-dap” involving at least nine cops at La Loma police station who were later implicated in this incident.   

The nine cops were positively identified in the photo uploaded in the social network that has gone viral. Their luck ran out when the incident was also caught in a video taken by one of the CCTV cameras along EDSA. These rogue cops were so bold in using even their own vehicles that led to their arrest.

Chief Inspector Joseph de Vera, head of the Follow Up and Investigation Unit of the La Loma Police Precinct in Quezon City, PO2 Jonathan Rodriguez, a member of the District Public Safety Battalion, have been arrested and charged for highway robbery and kidnapping with serious illegal detention. The other identified suspects include dismissed policeman Inspector Marco Polo Esratra, Senior Inspector Oliver Villanueva, SPO1 Ramil Hachero, PO1 Mark de Paz, PO2 Ebonn Decatoria, PO2 Jerome Datinguinoo, and PO2 Weavin Masa, remain  at large.

Sadly, most of them are members of the PNP Academy, which trains future police officers of the country.

Valmoria’s mettle will come to fore in how he would handle these closet criminal cops on the loose within their ranks. He will have to be tougher in policing the police, especially against the so-called “criminals in uniform,” or policemen who hide behind their uniforms and use government-issued guns to commit crimes and ply their illegal trade.