Bataoil is NCRPO chief
Vows ‘community empowerment’
By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 09:50:00 11/19/2008
Filed Under: Police
MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) Former Philippine National Police (PNP) director for community relations Leopoldo Bataoil is the new chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), replacing Director Jefferson Soriano in a brief ceremony at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City Wednesday.
Soriano will soon be promoted to three-star rank and be the new chief of the directorial staff in Camp Crame.
On assuming his post, Bataoil vowed to “unleash the power of the community” in peacekeeping, amid accusations the PNP is reverting to its “militaristic” traditions.
Bataoil also vowed to continue Soriano’s campaign against organized crime, particularly robbery groups whose modus operandi is to pose as policemen to gain access to their target establishments.
“We will hit the ground running. That is the order and that is the guidance. We will waste no time,” Bataoil told reporters.
Bataoil’s appointment came after Deputy Director General Emmanuel Carta, deputy chief for administration, filed for non-duty status to allow his early retirement.
“I had sleepless nights since the chief PNP told me to make ready for my relief as [director for police community relations]…I had even more sleepless nights and restless nights since Sunday when [Director General Jesus Verzosa] told me to make ready to be the next NCRPO chief,” Bataoil said.
He said his main thrust would be to “empower the community,” in response to earlier observations by Senator Richard Gordon that the PNP, particularly its senior officers, has reverted to its militaristic tradition.
“[This is our] approach against criminality and we will blend it with the community, empower the community. We will now unleash the power of the community,” Bataoil said.
“[There is a] military tradition in the PNP na pagka matataas na ang gumagawa, oks na lang yan [that if an officer does this, it’s OK]. Honestly, as a responsible officer, do you think that that is the case? Because we’re trying to solve that problem here. And I’m beginning to get the impression na hindi pa naaalis yung mga sistema niyo diyan [that this has not been removed from the system],” Gordon said Saturday during the Senate investigation into the Moscow incident in which Russian customs officers apprehended now retired PNP comptroller Eliseo dela Paz with 105,000 euros in undeclared cash.
Verzosa has admitted to the existence of this militaristic tradition but vowed to get rid of it.
“[The PNP] is even civilian in nature because we are now recognizing the power of the civilian community in peace keeping,” Bataoil said.
Meanwhile, Soriano said in his short stint as NCRPO chief, there was a 24 percent drop in the crime rate from September to October.
“This proves that the enhanced visibility patrol and other preventive and pre-emptive measures we implemented have worked. All we need to do now is to sustain them and continue to innovate based on prevailing peace and order environment,” Soriano said.
Bataoil is a member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Magilas Class of 1976.
He served as battalion commander of the Special Action Force (SAF) in 1992 in Mindanao and was later appointed chief of Cotabato City police.
Bataoil also served as provincial director of Negros Occidental, deputy director of the Central Police District, and PNP spokesman under then PNP chiefs Hermogenes Ebdane and Edgar Aglipay.
He was police director for Region 1 in 2007 before being named director for police community relations.
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