New NCRPO chief tells men: No libel arrests Friday-Sunday

When the new chief of the Metro Manila police formally assumed his post on Friday, his very first directive concerned the media.

During the command turnover ceremonies at the National Capital Region Police Office headquarters in Taguig City, Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina told his men not to serve arrest warrants on journalists accused of libel on certain periods of the week.

“As my first act here as your regional director, I’d like to direct and remind all my people in the NCRPO not to serve warrants of arrest for libel against any media personality from Friday afternoon until Sunday,” Espina said in a speech.

“Give our friends from the media a chance to post bail. This is just libel. Just work, nothing personal,” he said.

Espina later explained in an interview that since his early days in the force, he had heard of police officers serving such warrants on weekends, leaving the accused no choice but to wait it out in detention till the courts reopen the next week.

He described such moves on the part of the arresting officers as “abusive.”

In his speech, Espina only made a brief reference to the incident which landed him in the news earlier last week, when his son encountered two “extortionist” officers from the Quezon City Police District. (See related story on Page A26.)

“Let’s just forget about what happened to my son,” he said in Filipino. “What’s important is that no civilian should fall victim to anyone from our ranks.”

“I mean business: We will dismiss them,” he said, referring to the two QCPD officers.

He said he thought against bringing his son to Friday’s ceremony to protect his privacy.

Espina, formerly the head of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group, took over from Deputy Director General Alan Purisima, his “mistah” (classmate) in the Philippine Military Academy “Dimalupig” Class of 1981.

Purisima has been promoted to head PNP directorial staff.

Espina admitted that he will be facing many challenges as NCRPO chief, such as the expected rise in crime during the so-called “Ber” months leading to Christmas, as well as the security concerns over next year’s elections.

“We will concentrate on operations and prevention. In the HPG, we looked for and caught the suspects … It just takes dedication. Put up rewards and manhunt teams,” he told reporters.

“I need everyone to cooperate with me. I want all NCRPO people to walk in uniform with dignity and pride,” he said.

PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome lauded Espina’s “good performance” and “work ethic” in the HPG, noting that his stint saw “a reduction in carnapping cases and an increase in recovery efficiency.”

Referring to the extortion attempt on Espina’s son, Bartolome added: “If we want to earn the citizens’ trust and cooperation, we need to start to cleanse our ranks.”

“If this happened to the son of one of our comrades, this surely happens to others. This should not be shrugged off. We need to focus on this,” he added.

Bartolome thus ordered Espina to find a  “zero-backlog solution” and speed up deliberations on extortion cases filed against PNP members.

“Pending cases should be resolved within 30 days. [Proceedings] that have not started yet should be resolved within 90 days,” he stressed.