EDITORIAL - Fundraising

Police investigators are reportedly eyeing a Mindanao politician in the robbery at a shopping mall in Pasig City on June 22. The robbers got away with P550,000 in cash that was being taken from a bank by an employee to an armored van parked outside the mall. Reports said police investigation showed that the robbers were members of the private army of the Mindanao politician, and the crime could be a fund-raising scheme for his reelection campaign.

It’s not the first time that a criminal activity is being linked to political fundraising. In recent years, anti-crime groups have noted a spike in certain criminal activities such as kidnapping for ransom, carjacking as well as bank and armored van robberies in the months before the official start of a campaign period. The perpetrators tend to be bold and heavily armed, with getaway vehicles that are usually stolen. These days the motorcycle, easy to maneuver even in heavy Metro Manila traffic, has become the getaway vehicle of choice.

Concerns have been raised about the emergence of narco-politics, but in fact other illegal activities have financed political campaigns in this country. Proceeds from jueteng, smuggling and gunrunning have been successfully laundered to turn crooks into “honorable” public officials. In certain parts of Mindanao, local executives are widely suspected to be involved in every major case of ransom kidnapping.

In the case of the heist at the Pasig mall, police appear to have traced the movements of the suspects and may link them directly to the Mindanao politician. As in other crimes, the arrest and indictment of a prominent suspect is one of the best deterrents against a repeat of the offense. With the campaign period for the 2013 midterm elections approaching, police should waste no time in neutralizing such threats to public safety.