Yap consolidates 2 provincial units into new anti-crime body

TARLAC CITY — The provincial government has intensified its campaign against all forms of illegal activity, including tax evasion and illegal logging, with the creation of a new "consolidated" task force.

In an executive order, Gov. Jose Yap decided to abolish the provincial tax monitoring unit (PTMU) and Task Force Kalikasan, and transferred their functions to the Provincial Composite Task Force (PCTF).

Heading the new law enforcement unit is Superintendent Rudy Lacadin, chief of the police 313rd Provincial Mobile Group.

Yap also appointed provincial treasurer Victoria Salvador as deputy for provincial tax code and ordinances enforcement, and his son, Jose Yap Jr., former mayor of the upland town of San Jose, as deputy for environmental concerns.

"There is a need to reorganize and revitalize the (former PTMU) into a composite task force so it can effectively meet the objectives of the present administration in the (enforcement) of laws and ordinances," the governor said.

The new task force is tasked to "conduct surveillance of all violators of the Provincial Tax Code."

Along with the local police, it will also carry out campaigns against "illegal drugs and illegal gambling, illegal logging and violations of environmental laws and national laws."

Yap empowered the PCTF to arrest violators of national and local laws, and to confiscate any material used in committing a crime.

The provincial legal office will act as the "legal adviser" of the new task force, assisting it in filing appropriate charges against offenders.

Yap described the PCTF as similar to the national government’s current special anti-crime commission, and its predecessors, the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) of the Ramos and Estrada administrations, respectively.