NCRPO hurt by backlash on Davantes case

MANILA, Philippines - Investigators at the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) are stung by criticisms that they solved the case of slain ad firm executive Kristelle Davantes because of the P2.5 million reward, an official said yesterday.

“There are a big number of pending murder cases in Metro Manila and we will work on them despite no reward being offered to show that the police is not selective in its work,” Chief Superintendent Christopher Laxa, NCRPO’s deputy director for operations, said.

He added that the exact number of unsolved murders in the metropolis, especially those handled by Task Force Usig, will be known in the next few days.

He admitted that they were hurt by criticisms on social media websites that they only work hard on cases when there is a reward.

A total of P2.5 million was offered as a reward for information leading to the arrest of Davantes’ killers. The NCRPO’s Task Force Kae, led by Laxa, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had five of the six alleged killers in custody in 14 days.

Laxa said the task force and the NBI will sit down sometime this week to determine which of their informants will receive the reward.

NCRPO director Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. earlier said his command has no interest in the reward and the money should go to the informants.