Anti-‘jueteng’ bishop, Pangasinan leaders back PNP head

DAGUPAN CITY—Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said he was pained by accusations of corruption against Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima, who he noted stopped the illegal numbers game “jueteng” and solved high-profile crimes when he served as police director of Pangasinan province.

“His record as provincial police director of Pangasinan, I seem to recall, was quite excellent,” said Cruz, who was head of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese when Purisima was stationed there from June 2005 to February 2007.

Purisima has been accused of plunder, corruption, bribery and accumulating unexplained wealth.

In a phone interview last week, Cruz, who also led Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Sugal (People’s Crusade Against Gambling), said Purisima should be given the benefit of the doubt and due process.

“Let the case [against Purisima] be filed and accordingly processed by the judicial body concerned,” he said.

He said that if Purisima took the challenge of Sen. Grace Poe to go on a leave of absence while cases against him were being heard, “this will show his sportsmanship and gentleman’s character.”

Cruz had joined Pangasinan officials and personalities in calling for Purisima’s retention as Pangasinan police director in 2007, citing his “integrity and capacity in attending to his difficult police task.”

Among those who expressed support was Rosendo So, whose family fell victim to kidnappers in the past.

So, who now heads the agriculture group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag), said the brickbats being hurled against Purisima could be coming from those hurting from his campaign to cleanse the police ranks.

“He helped so many kidnap victims, including my family,” said So of Purisima’s stint as head of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (Pacer) from 2002 to 2003.

“The accomplishments included simultaneous drug buy-busts, illegal firearms and illegal gambling operations in Urdaneta City, and the arrest of a suspected leader of a kidnap-for-ransom syndicate in Bolinao,” he said in a statement.

In a petition-letter on Feb. 9, 2007, a group of Pangasinan mayors said the province “feels secure under the care and leadership of Purisima.” Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer Northern Luzon