The Chinese-Filipino community and other business groups expressed elation over the accomplishments of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (PACER), which reduced incidents of kidnapping-for-ransom during the first six months of 2007.
Teresita Ang-See, president of the Citizens Action Against Crime (CAAC), said the performance of PACER is “very spectacular” and broke all the records of success of the police against kidnap gangs.
“It’s been a very spectacular improvement (in the decline of kidnapping). It broke all the records of success. The PACER has virtually broken the back of many criminal syndicates,” Ang-See said shortly after the PACER’s 5th anniversary celebration held yesterday at the Philippine National Police Multi-Purpose Hall in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Ang-See said the cooperation between PACER and the community has led to the unprecedented success of the government against kidnapping for ransom. “But we hope we can go back to the period when we never heard of any kidnapping.”
The PACER, a unit of the PNP tasked to address the problem of kidnapping-for-ransom, recorded only seven incidents from January to June this year, including a “kidnap-me” or self kidnapping.
The 2007 statistics are only half of the 14 incidents of kidnapping reported for the same period in 2006.
In the 1990s, wealthy Tsinoys virtually lived in fear and could not go out of their houses without bodyguards after two to three kidnapping cases were recorded weekly. In 2001, there were 99 cases of kidnapping-for-ransom.
Of the six incidents in the past six months, PACER officials said 60 percent is considered solved with the victims rescued and suspects arrested and charged. The other 40 percent is considered unsolved because the suspects remain at large although the victims were rescued.
Aside from Ang-See, other personalities from government agencies, business groups and non-government organizations that lauded PACER were John Tan, Miguel Valera, Donald Dee, Francis Chua and Sergio Ortiz Luis.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno congratulated PACER operatives and personnel led by PNP chief Director General Oscar Calderon, who is also the head of PACER.
Puno reminded PACER officials and personnel, including Senior Superintendent Edgar Iglesia and Superintendent Marcelo Morales, to double their efforts to once and for all end kidnapping cases in the country.