“Doctors” or police officials with a penchant for tampering with crime figures have no place in the Philippine National Police. This was the warning of PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima as he reminded all police chiefs to always observe “truthful reporting” in their submission of crime statistics in their respective areas. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
Some of the police officials accused of underreporting the crime rate in their areas denied the allegation on Tuesday, saying the discrepancies discovered by validation teams were mainly due to miscommunication.
Senior Supt. Rodolfo Llorca, Pasay police chief, explained that the crime statistics in the city from January to June did not include cases that happened in some barangays (villages), including traffic-related incidents that were amicably settled.
“These are written in the police blotters but were not counted by the crime registrars,” he said.
Llorca added that police station commanders in his area were still adjusting to the new policy of the PNP to include all incidents, whether minor or major crimes, in their reports.
Based on the verification conducted by the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) of the Philippine National Police, the report submitted by the Pasay police cited crime statistics that were 56.1 percent lower compared to the actual figures.
“According to the findings of the DIDM, the actual number of incidents recorded in precincts was different from the number reported to the higher office,” National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) head Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo Jr. said.
Aside from Llorca, eight other police officials in Metro Manila are facing relief and administrative sanctions based on the recommendation of the DIDM. They are Senior Superintendents Florendo Quibuyen of Mandaluyong City, Joselito Daniel of San Juan City, Arthur Asis of Taguig and Ariel Andrade of Parañaque, Supt. Santiago Pascual of the Manila Police District (MPD) Station 4, Supt. Manam Muarip of MPD Station 9, Supt. Limuel Obon of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 10 and Supt. Ramon Pranada of QCPD Station 7.
At the same time, the nine police officials were ordered by Garbo to take refresher courses on management and operational procedures in the PNP.
Asis, on the other hand, blamed the inaccurate crime report submitted by his office on the absence of the professional crime registrar at the Taguig police headquarters.
According to him, their crime registrar who went on leave during the first half of the year has the technical know-how on sorting crime records.
“We were able to address this and tally what we have with [what] the DIDM [came up in its report],” Asis said.
In Taguig City, the total number of crimes reported was lower by 36.2 percent, the DIDM said in its findings.
Llorca, meanwhile, said he was hoping to be given a chance to explain his side before the PNP leadership.
On the other hand, Chief Supt. Jose Erwin Villacorte, director of the Southern Police District, said that Andrade should be excluded from the administrative charges since he assumed his post as head of the Parañaque police only in August.
This was also the defense of the top police official of San Juan City. According Daniel, the figures being questioned by the hierarchy of the NCRPO covered the period from Jan. 1 to June 30.
He said he became the city police’s officer in charge only on July 27. “So I still don’t know what their data then was,” Daniel said, adding that he had already been cleared by the NCRPO.—With Kristine Felisse Mangunay