PNP antikidnap chief replaced

Senior Supt. Roberto Fajardo. INQUIRER PHOTO RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine National Police has replaced Senior Supt. Renato Gumban as chief of the Anti-Kidnapping Group.

Senior Supt. Roberto Fajardo, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the National Capital Region, took over from Gumban, who was reassigned to Region IV-B, or the Mimaropa region, as deputy regional director for administration.

Chief Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac, the PNP spokesman, said Gumban’s reassignment had nothing to do with the recent upsurge in kidnap-for-ransom cases, describing it as “part of his career advancement on the way to his promotion to one-star rank.”

As CIDG chief, Fajardo dealt a serious blow to the illegal online gambling operations of a Canadian national, wanted by the United States Department of Homeland Security for antimoney laundering and illegal online gambling, Sindac said.

Fajardo also led the arrest of a CIDG official in Pampanga and six others for allegedly reselling shabu they had seized from suspected drug peddlers.

In April, Fajardo helped in the arrest of former Commission on Audit Chair Reynaldo Villar, who was charged with plunder along with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the alleged misuse of P366 million in funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.–Julie M. Aurelio