Lomibao to cut short foreign trip

The attempt on the life of Batangas Gov. Armand Sanchez reportedly forced Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao to cut short his trip to the United States and Europe.

Sources said Lomibao was due to arrive last night from the US, where he met with Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller in Washington, D.C. to discuss mutual areas of concern in the war against transnational crime and terrorism.

Lomibao and Mueller discussed prospects for increased cooperation between the PNP and FBI in terms of training and exchange of intelligence information.

Lomibao’s visit to the FBI headquarters was upon the invitation of Mueller in a gesture of reciprocal goodwill following the visit to Manila of FBI deputy director John Pistole last March.

The FBI has been accommodating PNP personnel in its regular training sessions at the FBI National Academy and in the Asia-Pacific.

From Washington, Lomibao was supposed to fly to Kosovo in the Serbian Republic to check the conditions of 53 PNP personnel serving as peacekeepers there under the auspices of the United Nations.

In the last leg of his overseas trip, Lomibao was to attend a conference of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in Lyon, France.

"Gen. Lomibao apparently wants to personally supervise the investigation, although acting PNP chief Deputy Director General Oscar Calderon is closely monitoring the investigation," one of the sources said. — Cecille Suerte