Bato: Off-duty cops should carry guns

Policemen should carry their service firearms even if they are off duty and in civilian attire.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa made the remarks yesterday when he noticed some of the police officers during the accounting of personnel at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headquarters in Camp Karingal had empty holsters.

As lawmen, Dela Rosa said they are mandated to respond to any crime and emergency 24 hours a day and seven days a week, adding President Duterte does not like to see policemen without firearms. “Whether you like it or not, you are a police officer every minute of the day, every hour of the day,” Dela Rosa said.

He made the statement after the President on Tuesday warned government forces on the resurgence of the infamous hit squad of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

Dela Rosa said the NPA has stepped up offensives after Duterte scrapped the peace talks with communist rebels. A group of retired and seasoned police officers has since been doing the rounds in the PNP’s field offices advising young police officers about the modus operandi of the NPA’s Special Partisan Unit (Sparu).

Records from the PNP showed the Sparu killed 56 policeman, soldiers and civilians in 2017 while nine were assassinated from January to March 2018, for a total of 65. A majority of those killed were in Davao region with 25, followed by 13 in Bicol and seven in Caraga.

Dela Rosa cited the case of an off-duty policeman who still responded to a bus robbery incident in Metro Manila because he had a firearm. While they can always carry their firearms, Dela Rosa told police officers they should not display their handguns when in civilian attire. “You will be admonished. I will reprimand you if you will display your firearms,” said Dela Rosa. “That’s what we call concealed carry.” Dela Rosa reminded police officers to always be careful when conducting operations and responding to incidents. The reason is that he wants to lessen the stress being experienced by Duterte every time a policeman is killed in the line of duty, Dela Rosa said. Despite Duterte’s hectic schedule, Dela Rosa said the Chief Executive always makes time to visit the wakes of slain policemen. Dela Rosa also urged police officers involved in illegal activities to mend their ways in time for the Lenten season.

For policemen involved in illegal drugs, he promised to forgive them provided they get themselves crucified. “You volunteer yourselves to be crucified on the cross in Pampanga,” Dela Rosa said, referring to the province known for staging reenactments of the crucifixion on Good Friday. The accounting of police personnel was conducted to determine who have not been reporting for duty. Dela Rosa said a total of 101 police officers were unaccounted for during a surprise inspection at the Manila Police District last week.

Mass surrender

As military ground forces intensify their respective anti-insurgency operations across the country to crush the communist insurgents down to the last man, these efforts are being complemented by a separate strategy that highlights the mass surrender of NPA rebels and their supporters to government authorities.

The two-pronged military approach is bearing good results as the strategy has resulted in the dismantling of several NPA units, mostly based in Mindanao, sources said.

“The first approach is purely military actions, while the latter was devised to discourage wouldbe NPA recruits from joining the underground armed struggle by highlighting the surrender of active NPA fighters and their supporters,” an official said. Since January, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported that a total of 4,359 NPA rebels and their supporters have surrendered.

Two key NPA leaders and another guerrilla, all operating in Northern Mindanao region, surrendered to the Army in Talacogan, Agusan del Sur the other day.

The rebel surrenderers were identified as Jeffrey Mondejar alias Ka Bars, vice commander of the NPA Regional Sentro de Grabidad; Jaica Precisio alias Ka IC, platoon medic of Sandatahang Yunit Pamproganda Banglas of the Guerrilla Front Committee 88, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee and Apatan Agsubo, alias Ka Tan, of the Guerrilla Front 34 of Southern Mindanao Regional Committee. –