Monitor Davao vigilantes, PNP asked

MANILA, Philippines - The Zenarosa Commission has asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) to form a surveillance unit to monitor the movements of suspected members of the Davao Death Squad and other vigilante groups in the province and immediately arrest them if necessary.

The commission, formed in the aftermath of the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre, is an independent body headed by retired Justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa tasked to dismantle private armies to ensure orderly and honest elections in May.

In a resolution dated March 17, the commission also gave the PNP other specific directives, including the rotation of police personnel in some towns in Lanao del Sur during the election period “to prevent the incumbent public officials and other local candidates in each locality from exerting undue influence over the police.”

The commission also issued orders in connection with politically motivated killings in Masbate, directing the PNP to monitor and investigate the activities of the provincial jail warden amid reports that inmates were being used as guns-for-hire and members of private armies.