Aquino defends cops amid high-profile killings

President Aquino: In defense of police. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–President Aquino defended the police from criticisms over some recent high-profile killings, saying law enforcers have actually arrested suspects, including one of America’s most wanted terrorists, while grappling with a shortage of policemen to maintain order in a nation of nearly 100 million people.

“Have pity on our policemen. Let’s cite the three cases that were in the news recently,” Aquino told reporters on Tuesday on board a chartered flight from Tokyo, where he held a summit meeting with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to Hiroshima.

Positive news

The President was referring to the recent killing of Mayor Ernesto Balolong of Urbiztondo, Pangasinan, race car driver Enzo Pastor, and hotel chain owner Richard King.

Aquino noted that one day after Balolong’s fatal shooting, police arrested two suspects with the help of witnesses.

He also highlighted the recent arrest of Khair Mundos, a top commander of the al-Qaida linked Abu Sayyaf terrorist group, ending a seven-year manhunt. Mundos had been captured in 2004 but escaped from custody in 2007.

Mundos is wanted for the lethal attacks he allegedly led against Filipino and US troops in Zamboanga in the early 1990s. The US had offered a $500,000 bounty for information leading to Mundo’s arrest.

According to Aquino, a significant change has been the presence of eyewitnesses in these killings, noting that witnesses are usually convinced not to testify or choose not to involve themselves in the investigation of a crime.

“I think I’d like to credit the police for, one, capturing them [suspects] and for, two, convincing these witnesses to say what they know as opposed to the others who let fear overcome them,” the President said.

Aquino said he had been told that police have arrested three or four suspects in the King murder and have “already developed a very good case” in determining the motive for the killing.

‘Good leader’

Investigators also have “good leads” in the Pastor murder, he added.

“I think we can credit our police force with many achievements,” Aquino said.

As the Commander in Chief, the President noted that both the military and police continue to deal with the problem of limited personnel.

“You know we have a problem with our number of police and soldiers. We are still trying to enlist more of them… We need to deploy more warm bodies,” he said.

Aquino said the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police have a total of 250,000 personnel serving nearly 100 million Filipinos.

The country had the same number of security forces in the 1980s, when the population was only 50 million, he said.

More funds

Aquino said that under his administration, there is now “massive funding” for the movement and equipment of the two services called “shoot, scoot and communicate.”

He said “shoot” refers to the armaments, “scoot” is for using motorcycles, vans, trucks and the like, and “communicate” is for the improvement of communication facilities, both for voice and data transfer.

Aquino cited as an example the issuance of e-warrants online to expedite the arrest of fugitives with outstanding warrants of arrest.