FILE PHOTO: Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., PNP chief. (Photo from the Facebook page of the Office of the Chief PNP)
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said Monday that the gun attacks on local government officials recently are “not yet alarming.”
However, PNP investigators are still attempting to determine the purpose of the separate shooting incidents, he noted, paying particular attention to the varying situations and potential motives for the fatal and near-fatal events, which took place two to three days apart in Lanao del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya, and Pasay City in Metro Manila.
Azurin said that the gun attacks on the provincial officials are “isolated” cases but still need a thorough investigation by the police.
“I would say na hindi pa alarming kasi nga dine-determine pa natin – iba-iba iyong mga situation, iba-iba iyong mga reason kung bakit pinatay itong mga taong ito. Sabi ko nga, it’s either political, personal, business rivalry or other reasons why these killings are happening,” he told reporters in a chance interview at Camp Crame, Quezon City.
(I would say that it’s not yet alarming because we’re still determining – the situations and the reasons are different why these people were killed. As I said, it’s either political, personal, business rivalry, or other reasons these killings are happening.)
“Incidentally siguro (maybe), it just so happened na (that) they are in public service,” he also said
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Azurin also underscored that most attacks on local politicians happened outside their jurisdictions.
The PNP chief had instructed regional directors across the country to assess the security threats hounding government officials within their areas of authority.
“That’s why we’re advising them to continue iyong kanilang (their) threat assessment. Kapag sila ay bumiyahe at (If they travel and) they need security doon sa pupuntahan nila (at their destination), they should not hesitate to inform us, so we can provide additional security para nang sa ganoon (so that) we ensure their safety doon sa mga binibisita nila (at the place they are visiting),” Azurin said.
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On February 19, Aparri, Cagayan Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda and five companions were killed in an ambush in Bagabag town, Nueva Vizcaya.
Two days before, in Wao town in Lanao del Sur, unidentified suspects attacked the convoy of Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr. This February 17 gun assault killed Adiong’s four aides and wounded the governor and two others.
On February 22, police said that Mayor Ohto Caumbo Montawal of Datu Montawal town in Maguindanao was hurt in an ambush try along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City.
Speaker summons PNP, DILG
Following a series of gun assaults, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez called for an emergency meeting with representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government to address the matter.
Azurin said he is slated to meet with Romualdez this Monday afternoon to brief him about the crime environment in the country. He maintained that the crime rate dropped nationwide from January until late February compared to figures recorded in the same period last year.
READ: Romualdez calls for emergency meeting with DILG, PNP amid spate of violence
According to the PNP chief, “The reason why we are being requested to report is for Congress to know kung may kakulangan ba kami sa pondo, equipment, training ng aming personnel, so they can give us supplemental budget para nang sa ganun ay pagtibayin at paigtingin ang capability ng ating kapulisan.”
(We are being requested to report to Congress to know if we are lacking in budget, equipment, and training of our personnel, so they can give us a supplemental budget that would help us strengthen and intensify the capability of our police force.)