PNP to press charges vs 3 Metro police chiefs

PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA—The Philippine National Police will press administrative charges against the chiefs of police of three cities in Metro Manila to warn others against under-reporting the real crime situation in their respective areas.

A spokesman for the PNP said the administrative case filed against the chiefs of police in Mandaluyong, Pasay and Taguig  may lead to their dismissal if they are found to have deliberately understated crime figures in these three Manila suburbs.

“I was told if proven [guilty] the end result would also result in dismissal,” PNP spokesman Senior Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac said Friday. “So let this be a warning to our chiefs of police that they should abide by their mandate, which is to report crimes accurately and truthfully.”

Those charged were Senior Supt. Florendo Quibuyen of Mandaluyong; Senior Supt. Rodolfo Llorca of Pasay; and Senior Supt. Arthur Felix Asis of Taguig.

Six other chiefs of police and station commanders in Manila and Quezon City whose official crime data reports were also found to have been allegedly understated are still under “pre-charge investigation,” the PNP spokesman said.

PNP Director General Alan Purisima seeks to promote “accuracy, transparency, consistency and accountability in the recording of crime incidents, … (and) discourage deliberate or unintentional” under-reporting of crime, Sindac said.

He said Purisima was implementing a “one-strike policy” on the matter, which means chiefs of police caught undertstating crime incidence would be relieved from their posts on their first offense. But “they will be at least accorded due process,” Sindac said.