An organization of Manila policemen urged President Arroyo yesterday to disband the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), claiming the elite agency of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was created by former President Joseph Estrada merely to serve his "political whims and caprices."
The 3,000-strong Manila’s Finest Brotherhood Association, Inc. (MFBAI) led by SPO4 Wilson Tibor expressed their support for the call of acting PNP chief Deputy Director General Leandro Mendoza for the President to abolish the PAOCTF and create a new anti-crime task force which will go against organized crime groups without fear or favor.
The PAOCTF was also perceived by some PNP members as a secret police force of Estrada tasked to go after his perceived enemies. The task force is allotted a huge intelligence budget.
"The PAOCTF has now lost its credibility. It’s time to abolish the group. The PNP itself can serve the purpose of the PAOCTF while the budget for it can be allotted for the welfare of the policemen," the MFBAI said.
The group also urged Mendoza to stop the indiscriminate transfer of personnel to far flung areas as punishment of erring policemen.
According to Tibor, such action not only punishes the policeman but also his family who has to cope with living alone without his presence and guidance.
At the same time, MFBAI expressed support for the proposal of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina to return police control to the mayors.
The group has been pushing for the passage of the Philippine National Police (PNP) reform bill giving local officials supervision and control over local police forces.
Senate Bill 1261, which has been approved by the Senate but is still pending in the House, restructures the PNP and empowers local government units in the maintenance of law and order.
Lina recently announced that he was in favor of returning police control to mayors, saying "this would give the local executives the power to hire and fire members of the local police under their jurisdiction."
Lina said that under this proposal, it would be easier and faster to determine responsibility in the maintenance of peace and order as well as the state of crime prevention in a town or city.
The MFBAI said that since it is the mayors who usually get the blame for the deterioration of peace and order in the community, the control of local police force should be placed under them.