Palace presses PNP on crime

By: Christian V. Esguerra - 10 years ago

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Saying “every unsolved crime is a blight on society,” Malacañang on Wednesday stepped up its pressure on the Philippine National Police (PNP) following high-profile killings the past two weeks.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma described as “unacceptable” the PNP’s crime solution rate of 37 percent even if it had improved from 13 percent.

“But as far as we are concerned, that is not acceptable because this means that only one out of three crimes are being solved,” he said at a press briefing.

“There can’t be unsolved crimes because every unsolved crime is a blight on society and it poses a threat to the safety and lives of our people.”

Coloma said the government “would like to be able to improve despite figures that say there are already improvements because unsolved crimes are not acceptable in our standards.”

“If citizens are aware that the crime will remain unsolved anyway, then this would really embolden criminals in committing their misdeeds,” he said.

“So we have to intensify our crime prevention and law enforcement efforts despite what the figures may be showing now.”

The Palace earlier said President Aquino was taking a close look at three separate murders that took place within a week.

Race car driver Enzo Pastor and hotel chain owner Richard King were gunned down in separate incidents on Independence Day. Aquino’s party mate, Urbiztondo, Pangasinan Mayor Ernesto Balolong Jr. was also killed by gunmen five days earlier.

Asked if there was a failure on the part of the PNP to secure communities, Coloma said: “We note that the crime prevention rate could still be improved further.”

To help minimize “opportunities” for crime, the PNP, he said, “intensified patrols” and put up checkpoints in “critical areas,” such as the town in Pangasinan where Balolong was killed on the eve of his wedding anniversary.

“It’s also important for concerned citizens to be observant because police-community cooperation is also one important element of crime prevention,” Coloma said.

One problem confronting the PNP is the inadequate number of personnel to police communities.

Even if the PNP hired an additional 18,500 officers, the recruitment would mean that there would now be only one policeman for every 576 citizens, he said. Coloma pegged the current coverage ratio at one for every 675 Filipinos.

“That’s why we’re taking every step so that the law enforcement by the Philippine National Police would be more effective,” he said.

Coloma noted the three elements of a crime, namely motive, instrumentality and opportunity.

Of these elements, he said the police had “direct control” only over instrumentalities—weapons or getaway vehicles. He said authorities had recovered “many” unlicensed firearms.