New SPD chief tasked to focus on criminals

On his first day in office, the new director of the Southern Police District (SPD) was tasked by the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) to neutralize criminals in the area.

“This is one task we have to do: To account for … the leaders of dreaded criminal groups victimizing establishments here in southern Metro Manila, as well as [the] adjacent [provinces of] Cavite and Laguna which are incidentally under the jurisdiction now of [former SPD director Chief Supt. Benito] Estipona,” NCRPO director Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina said at Tuesday’s turnover ceremonies.

Noting that the southern part of the metropolis acts as a gateway to the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) area and vice versa, Espina said he and the new SPD director, Chief Supt. Jose Erwin T. Villacorte, would be working closely with Estipona “to put behind bars all these criminals victimizing innocent civilians.”

Villacorte, formerly assigned to the Philippine National Police Directorate for Personnel and Records Management, said his first priority would be to uphold the national police’s mandate to “reduce violence during elections.”

“We will focus on election-related activities to reduce the proliferation of firearms and the violation of election laws,” he told reporters at the SPD headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, adding they would continue to enforce the gun ban, conduct patrols and implement checkpoints.

“He is hardworking. I know SPD will be very busy these coming days. What is important here are the anticriminality operations. The main objective is to make streets and convergence areas as safe and secure as possible,” Estipona said of his successor.