Officer who failed to stop ‘jueteng’ new ‘Tugis’ chief

Senior Superintendent Conrad Capa is replaced by Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao as the head of Task Force Tugis. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—A senior police officer who received a tongue-lashing from Interior Secretary Mar Roxas for his failure to curb the illegal numbers game jueteng in Central Luzon in 2012 has been designated chief of Task Force Tugis.

Chief Supt. Edgardo Ladao on April 3 was named to head the police unit formed to run after the “Big Five” high-profile fugitives, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday.

The fugitives are real estate developer Delfin Lee, retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and his brother former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, and former Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo.

Led in capture

The officer Ladao replaced, Senior Supt. Conrad Capa, had led in the capture of Lee in a Manila hotel on March 6.

But instead of reaping praise, Capa was transferred by PNP Director General Alan Purisima to the Central Visayas police office a week after he arrested Lee.

Last week, instead of receiving a medal from President Aquino, the Commander in Chief berated him for going “on a media tour” to decry his removal from the task force.

A senior PNP officer, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak to the media, said Ladao, a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1982, was Purisima’s “personal choice” to be the new head of the task force Purisima created in July last year.

“Ladao is known for his investigative skills. He is a highly skilled police operative,” PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac told the Inquirer.

“He is the best man to head Task Force Tugis. He is the most competent and most available to attend to the mission of the unit,” he added.

Then the regional director of the Central Luzon police, Ladao was scolded by Roxas when he attempted to explain why jueteng continued to proliferate in Pampanga during a meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council on Oct. 25, 2012.

In that meeting, Roxas reiterated his order to the police to once and for all stop jueteng in the province, pointing out that undercover agents were able to place bets on the illegal numbers game despite the claim of the local police that jueteng had been eradicated in Pampanga.

Legal or not

When Ladao tried to explain the difference between jueteng and the state-sanctioned Small Town Lottery (STL), Roxas abruptly cut him off and told him: “It is not for you to say what is legal or not.”

The PNP had said that jueteng operators were using STL as a cover for their illegal operations.

Before his designation as Tugis chief, Ladao headed the PNP Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in northern Luzon.

He is also a former chief of the Northern Police District and the Zambales provincial police office.

Originally posted: 1:58 pm | Monday, April 7th, 2014

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