New NCRPO chief goes after drug pushers

Newly installed Metro police chief Director Jefferson Soriano vowed yesterday to crush drug pushers in Metro Manila as he directed his five district directors to increase by 10 percent the funding for operations against illegal drugs.

“There should be no compromise on (illegal) drugs,” Soriano said as he outlined his two-year program to reduce by 10 to 20 percent the incidence of crime in Metro Manila and further attract foreign investments.

Soriano said he wanted the anti-illegal drugs operations done properly as he warned policemen not to resort to planting evidence and extortion and other “shortcut” methods to attain their goal.

Soriano, a lawyer, reminded operatives of police anti-drug units that planting evidence is punishable by life imprisonment while the Philippine National Police (PNP) abhors extortion in any form.

He admitted that some unscrupulous policemen have tainted the honor and integrity of those assigned at different anti-drug units of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the past by resorting to extortion and other “money-making” rackets.

“We will throw the book at you if you conduct your operations in bad faith,” Soriano said as he promised to “back up to the hilt” policemen being harassed for doing their jobs.

Soriano assumed command yesterday of the 15,000-strong National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO), replacing Director Geary Barias, who was promoted as Chief Directorial Staff of the PNP in Camp Crame.

Barias boasted that under his 12-month stint at the NCRPO, he was able to reduce the crime rate in Metro Manila by 15.34 percent.

Soriano thanked Barias for laying down a good foundation in the NCRPO “for us to work on.”

He noted that the crime volume in Metro Manila from January to August increased by only 100 incidents, from 12,325 in 2007 to 12,425 in 2008.

“Crimes against persons have gone up by six percent but crimes against property has gone down by 1.2 percent,” Soriano said.

He also wants the incidence of street crimes slashed by five percent, especially during the Christmas season, and this can be done by increasing police visibility and “by doing our detective work more efficiently.”

Soriano added that he will give special attention to operations against bank robbers and car thieves. He told unit commanders to “seriously work on” bank client robberies, which has gone up by 85 percent.

He also wants car thefts, particularly in Quezon City, to be reduced under his watch. He vowed to work closely with the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), headed by Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, to bring the 561 incidents of car thieves in Metro Manila down to its lowest level in two years’ time.

Meanwhile, PNP chief Deputy Director General Jesus Verzosa ordered Soriano to make Metro Manila less prone to the indirect negative effects of insurgency and internal conflict in other parts of the country.

“Metro Manila may be several hundred miles away from the troubled south, but… inevitably, Metro Manila will have to bear the brunt, directly and indirectly, of the 40 years of fighting in Mindanao and elsewhere in the country,” Verzosa said. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe