Military ready to help fight kidnaps

The government will tap the expertise and resources of the elite Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in combating criminality, notably kidnap-for-ransom activities.

Newly installed Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, in an interview with reporters at Fort Del Pilar in Baguio City, said an inter-agency memorandum of agreement on intelligence cooperation is currently being drafted to boost the campaign against criminality.

The accord will foster closer coordination and cooperation among the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of National Defense (DND).

Reyes said the ISAFP has assets and resources that could be used to complement the efforts of the PNP.

President Arroyo mobilized all concerned government agencies following the recent spate of kidnappings with some of the victims murdered.

"Kidnapping for ransom must stop and stop soon," the President said in a speech before the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. the other day.

Former PNP chief Director General Panfilo Lacson said the government should now gain the upper hand in the fight against criminality with the involvement of the military.

"We have all the institutions in place, we have the PAOCTF (Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force), specifically created to address the kidnapping problem, along with other crimes," Lacson said.

Lacson, who is running for the Senate in the May 14 elections under the banner of the opposition coalition Laban-Puwersa ng Masa, said he is willing to take a leave from the campaign in case Mrs. Arroyo seeks his help in curbing kidnapping-for-ransom incidents.

In a statement, Lacson said the President’s call for a peace summit is a sheer waste of time and resources since the affair would not solve criminality.

He stressed that a peace summit would be "nothing but a series of briefings and a show of statistics."

Instead of the peace summit, Lacson said the government should strengthen and maximize highly trained units such as the PAOCTF "which is specifically mandated to wage a war against syndicate crimes such as kidnap-for-ransom operations."

Lacson disagreed with Mrs. Arroyo that kidnapping is the country’s main problem.

He claimed that poverty and graft and corruption are still the most serious problems confronting the country.

Lacson also revealed that PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza and PAOCTF head Director Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. are not on speaking terms, to the detriment of the PNP’s anti-crime operations.
"General Ebdane and General Mendoza don’t see eye to eye as per our information. They don’t seem willing to cooperate with each other," Lacson said.

He stressed that the two police officials must work together to gain the people’s trust and confidence. "It would be harder for the government to address crimes if the PNP and the PAOCTF won’t work together."

He added that the kidnapping problem will never be solved unless the victims themselves fully cooperate with the authorities.

Security guards offer help

Officers of the 700,000-strong Philippine Association of Detective and Protective Agency Operators Association (PADPAO) offered their help in combating criminality, especially kidnapping.

PADPAO executive vice president Romeo Yusi Sr. said security guards would be "very effective" in assisting the police and the military in crime prevention.

PADPAO’s over 2,000 member-agencies employ some 700,000 security guards nationwide.

These so-called "blue guards" are currently being briefed on their additional responsibility to help law enforcement agencies prevent crime.

Meanwhile, PAOCTF agents arrested in Zamboanga City on Friday a suspected leader of a kidnap-for-ransom gang operating in Western Mindanao.

The suspect, identified as Madum Gani, alias Mistah, was captured during a raid on the gang’s hideout in Barangay Sta. Catalina, Zamboanga City.

Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, Gani tried to escape through the back door, but PAOCTF agents were also waiting for him there.

Records showed that the suspect was wanted for a series of kidnapping cases in the region.

Among his victims were businesswoman Juanita Lee and three public school teachers who identified him as one of their abductors.

In another development, a six-year-old boy and his nanny who were reportedly snatched by still unidentified men last week in Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro were recovered by village watchmen after the victims were abandoned by their abductors to evade pursuing policemen.

Mindoro provincial police director Romeo Ricardo identified the boy as Renmar Medina, a scion of a prominent family in Calapan, and his nursemaid, identified only as Myla.

The boy’s parents said Renmar and Myla failed to come home from his school on March 20.

The kidnappers initially demand a P500,000-ransom, but raised the amount to P2 million the following day.

Ricardo said no ransom payment was made for the victims’ release. — With reports from Jaime Laude, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ric Sapnu, Joe Leuterio, Roel Pareño