PNP reg’l directors aren’t supermen

“Without gambling, I would not exist.”

—Hunter S. Thompson

By Alex P. Vidal

NO Philippine National Police (PNP) chief in the history has succeeded in totally eliminating illegal gambling operations in the country.

But almost every PNP chief who served the country had made a loud public outcry against illegal gambling and vowed to wipe it out during their stewardship.

And we know they all failed.

Thus PNP chief Police General Archie Franciso Gamboa’s latest agitation against illegal gambling operations wasn’t news anymore.

It won’t even be a news if he will also fail.

What’s news is his threat to lower the boom on PNP regional directors who can’t stop the numbers game operations in their respective jurisdictions for one week.

It’s a news because the task of totally stamping out illegal gambling operations has always been a tall order; it’s almost incredible, unachievable, and downright impossible.

For one week?

Only Superman can do that.

Gamboa’s regional directors aren’t even superheroes.

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On Saturday (February 22), Gamboa boomed: "I have forwarded to you list of operators in your different regions. I’m giving you a week.”

Meaning that after one week, heads will roll; or regional directors who can’t curb illegal gambling operations in their areas of responsibility would be relieved.

Another problem for Gamboa is his reminder to all police officers “not to accept bribes from operators of illegal gambling.”

It’s like telling off-duty sailors not to enter inside the nightclubs in a port where their ships had docked.

We all know that many cops are in the payroll of illegal gambling operators since time immemorial. 

Some cops have even ended up as bodyguards of gambling lords when they went AWOL (absent without official leave) and after their retirement.

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Not all of the PNP’s 191,000 personnel are immaculate.

We still believe though that the majority are dedicated and honest.  

If they weren’t protectors of illegal drugs, some cops were in cahoots with illegal gambling lords, and this reality has been a public knowledge even before the integration of the Philippine Constabulary (August 18, 1901-January 29, 1991) and the Integrated National Police (August 7, 1975-January 29, 1991).

Pressuring the regional directors to stop illegal gambling operations will never yield positive results in as far as the government’s campaign against illegal gambling is concerned.

Gambling operators who don’t want corrupt PNP regional directors to be axed might “cooperate” for the time being and stop their operations temporarily in order to please Gamboa and to protect these corrupt regional directors, but after several weeks or months, it will be “business as usual” or “back to business.”

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Even Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) chief, Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan has acknowledge the presence of bookies or illegal numbers game operations in many parts of Western Visayas.

He lamented that “apparently, there are really individuals who keep on insisting on doing something illegal.”

But even Pamuspusan probably feels that stopping these bookies operations isn’t a joke. 

These operators, who have been organized clandestinely for a long period of time, also operate like syndicates. 

They also have their own intelligence network and they are well-entrenched, well-oiled, and well-protected.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Col. Tayaba is a big loss to the PNP

“Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.”

—Theodore Roosevelt

By Alex P. Vidal

I FIRST met then 30-year-old Police Maj. Marlon Tayaba in 1998 when he was the chief of the Iloilo City Mobile Group, where I saw him frisk suspected lawbreakers even in the La Paz bridge during the night operations.

He was close to our Sun Star Iloilo police beat reporters Ednalyn Belonio-Diamante, Ruby Silubrico, and other lady reporters from the radio and TV.

Tayaba was tough and swashbuckling when dealing with law violators and criminals, but meek and mild-mannered when in the company of Iloilo reporters, who admired his low key personality.

He raised his voice only on the ruffians and rascals while on duty, but spoke to anyone he met like a school teacher when he’s off duty.

Tayaba was one of the most courteous and soft-spoken police officials who served in the city and province of Iloilo.

If he wasn’t wearing a police uniform, Tayaba could be mistaken for a college student or a Mormon who knocks on the door to give free copies of Bible and prayer literatures.

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Tayaba wasn’t publicity hungry. He was a silent type and seldom opened his mouth in conversations but attentive and always alert.

His accomplishments became known only because he had lots of friends in the media who reported them even if some these stories weren’t front page materials.

He was a darling of the press because he treated them like his friends and classmates. 

While other PNP officials hankered for publicity in order to expedite their promotion, Tayaba never kowtowed to anyone in the press in order to get a special attention.

The more he earned positive remarks in the press for a good accomplishment as a cop, the more he would recluse himself so that the friendly press wouldn’t do a follow up and prolong the well-deserved plaudits.

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I lost track of Tayaba when he and other selected PNP officials went to the United States for a “schooling” in the early part of year 2000.

We were connected again when he sent a “friend request” on Facebook seven years ago. He used another name.

All that I heard and read about him thereafter was his sterling exploits as “Col. Marlon Tayaba” and as director of the Iloilo Provincial Police Office (IPPO), where he earned the trust and confidence of then Iloilo Governor Arthur “Art” Defensor Sr., father of incumbent Iloilo Governor Arthur “Toto” Jr. 

I only learned that he passed away on February 16 at the Iloilo Mission Hospital after a long bout with colon cancer, the second most deadly form of cancer after lung cancer.

He was 52.    

Based on his accomplishments and performance, his death should be considered as a big loss to the Philippine National Police.

Rest in Peace, Colonel!

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

Espenido is not Hercules

"I do know one thing about me: I don't measure myself by others' expectations or let others define my worth."
--Sonia Sotomayor

By Alex P. Vidal

THOSE who expect newly designated Baclod City Police Office (BCPO) deputy city director for operations, Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido to single-handedly erase all the drug traffickers in Bacolod City from the face of earth must either be high on drugs or just simply foolish and naive.
Espenido is not Hercules.
He is not even a Dirty Harry-type of law enforcer like what we all saw in the Clint Eastwood-starred Hollywood films in the 70's and 80's.
Espenido is a media creation.
His sensational stints as top cop in Leyte and Ozamis City where he led bloody crackdowns against prominent members of clans engaged in illegal drug made newspaper headlines yes, but they were all done with direct supervision and order from the higher ups that adhered to the iron-fist policy of the Duterte administration against illegal drugs.

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Espenido did not become instant star by killing the bad guys on the spot in a chance encounter or random act of crime like Charles Bronson in The Death Wish.
Any wily and determined cop "assigned" to perform President Duterte's wishes will also hog newspaper headlines like Espenido for a "job well done."
Espenido was "placed there" for a special task; he was not an accidental hero, or an off-duty cop who bravely chased five hooligans in broad daylight and walked away over their dead bodies with a smoking gun like Wyatt Earp.
It's funny that fans of Extra-Judicial Killings (EJK) treated Espenido like he won the gold medal in the world gymnastics championship when he was recently officially introduced as the new BCPO deputy.
He was presented in the media like a folk hero who just crossed the River Styx after rescuing the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.

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It's funnier when Espenido invoked the name of God when asked by reporters if his campaign against illegal drugs in the City of Smile would be bloody.
He reportedly declared: “If it’s God’s will, hindi man tayo makasiguro nyan kasi ang sa atin trabaho lang. ‘Yung sa atin lang is the rule of law. ‘Yun man ang pinangarap ng Presidente natin na mandate ng batas sa PNP."
It's not God's will to kill crime suspects, much less those who have not been properly arrested and convicted in court.
It's not God's will to execute unarmed civilians on suspicion they have links to illegal drugs.
God's law is just. Man's law is banal and imprecise.
In parading Espenido and disclosing the nature of his assignment in the BCPO, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has telegraphed its punches.
Drug lords and other outlaws in Bacold City and other cities and provinces can now prepare how to handle the PNP's latest move.

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Aside from donating sports equipment to the Iloilo City Government, we request the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to allow finance the training of Ilonggo athletes with potentials to win gold medals in international competitions.
Carlos Edriel Yulo, 19, the first-ever Filipino to win a gold medal at the world championships in Stuttgart on October 12, came from the grassroots.
Aside from the world-class facilities where Yulo and his fellow gymnasts trained, they were given the opportunities to hone their skills abroad from financial assistance given by the PSC, among other sources of training funds.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

How about the murdered cops, Congressman Bataoil?

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Was it a populist rant?
Or a brotherly malasakit (deep concern) from a retired police official turned lawmaker tormented by the humiliation suffered by a “promdi” cop?
Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil earned pogi points from his former colleagues in the Philippine National Police (PNP) when he lambasted in the Philippines’ House of Representatives the Garin father and son, Guimbal Mayor Oscar “Oca” Sr. and Iloilo 1st District Rep. Oscar “Richard” Jr., in a privilege speech January 14.
The two top male members of the feared but fizzy Garin political dynasty in Iloilo have been slapped with criminal charges by Guimbal, Iloilo’s Police Officer 3 Federico Macaya Jr. for allegedly mauling the cop in Guimbal town in December 2018.
The incident scandalized the entire PNP hierarchy that it immediately moved to strip the Garins of their police escorts.
No less than President Duterte has called for the filing of necessary cases against the Garins.
The Garins surrendered their firearms in Iloilo through Vice Governor Christine Garin, Oca’s daughter and Richard’s sister.

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The mauling incident instantly spread in the national media and the internet.
It became the talk of the town.
About three weeks after the incident, Bataoil, who once served as chief of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) regional operations and plans division of the Police Regional Office 6 in the early 2000, was in the rostrum unloading a Philippic:
“My heart bleeds for PO3 Macaya and many others who, like him, are all but nameless men and women in uniform quietly serving, and even dying, albeit some of them being subjected as well to assault, disrespect and abuse by persons in high elective office–the so-called mighty and powerful,“ he bewailed.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the fate that befell Police Officer 3 Federico Macaya Jr. of Guimbal police station when he was subjected to kicks, slaps and fist blows while the hapless policeman was handcuffed, unable to defend himself, and held at gunpoint.”
Bataoil fired the cylinders as a lawmaker to mollify the offended Guimbal cop and lift the spirit of the PNP.
He also wanted “to remind” the likes of Garins and other elected public officials “that we are not high and mighty.”
Good to the ears and excellent display of courage and grit for Bataoil, picking up the cudgels for an abused policeman.
PNP personnel invited to be present inside the House of Representatives applauded and gave Bataoil a standing ovation.
Before Macaya’s case acquired a colossal media attention, news about police personnel as victims of violence and even murder have already hogged prime time news headlines.

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Since Macaya comes from Iloilo, we will cite only a few cases familiar with the Ilonggos: the murders of former Negros police chief, Supt. Santiago Rapiz in Dipolog City; SP01 Ronaldo Alag in Iloilo City, and Senior Insp. Porferio Gabuya Jr. in Negros.
Like Macaya’s case, the brutal killings of the aforementioned cops happened only in November and December 2018.
Rapiz was killed in an “encounter” with fellow cops in an anti-drug operation, while Alag and Gabuya were mowed down by bullets fired by the notorious riding-in-tandem assailants.
They were tagged as alleged coddlers of illegal drugs even before they were formally charged in the proper court and killed violently
They were murdered without due process and forever silenced and shamed without any chance to clear their names.
Because they were linked in ugly activities, they were portrayed unjustly and appallingly in the media and died like movie villains--unlike Macaya who easily earned public sympathy after being allegedly kicked, slapped, and spat at on the face while his hands were cuffed.
Did Bataoil’s heart not bleed when these police officers were assaulted worse than Macaya?

Jeneda Salcedo’s silence

“You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.”
--Desmond Tutu

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- Iloilo Board Member Jeneda Salcedo-Orendain did not use her position to get back at the police that raided their house and the houses of her relatives in Sara, Iloilo in the Philippines dawn on October 17, 2018.
In that raid, which targeted the board member’s father, former mayor Neptali “Tally” Salcedo, Jeneda’s half brother, Nerio “Ricky”, and nephew Nixon “TJ”, were killed.
Police said they resisted the raid and tried to engage the cops in a shootout, a claim the Salcedo clan had refuted.
As of this writing, Jeneda neither lambasted the police in a privilege speech in the Provincial Board nor asked higher civilian and Philippine National Police (PNP) authorities to “do something” in order for the tormented family to get even.
The use of arm-twisting tactics, prevarication and “waslik poder” is prevalent in the culture of the Philippines’ political hegemony.

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If the bloody incident happened in the residence of other sensitive and outraged political clans, clan members who hold positions in government would’ve took turns in tearing to shreds the raiding team in the rostrums even if they fabricate lies and half-truths.
We know a lot of parents of some politically powerful and influential families to be the ones egging and provoking their children to hit back hard--and even invent stories--using their full might and resources as public officials.
Huffy and ill-tempered political parents who will risk the reputations and credibility of their children by using them to foment their vindictive fulmination and satisfy their egos and penchant for a revenge.
It did not happen in the case of the Salcedo family.

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Mayor Ermelita Salcedo and her husband Neptali probably raised their children to be humble and meek.
The family, which filed a complaint against the raiding team for “robbery” and “illegal search”, among other cases, has opted to allow the legal process to reign supreme in the tumult.
The Salcedos, despite their reputation as “anarchists”, have shown that they are capable of facing a major imbroglio with veritable adherence to the rule of law.
In fairness to the cops led by Senior Supt. Marlon Tayaba, Iloilo provincial police chief, and their big boss, Director John Bulalacao, Western Visayas police chief, they welcome the allegations of robbery, among other charges, saying they are willing to impose a disciplinary action on their men if found guilty.

Never-ending ‘cleansing’ appeal

“The police are not here to create disorder, they're here to preserve disorder.”
--Richard J. Daley

By Alex P. Vidal

NEW YORK CITY -- When will the final cleansing in the Philippine National Police (PNP) end?
In the first place, is there an ongoing and protracted cleansing process?
Every time a PNP director general will retire and a new successor will take over, the battle cry of incoming PNP chief has always been, “We will cleanse the PNP with scalawags and bad eggs”; “We will reform the PNP”; “We will dismiss the rotten apples”, etcetera.
Since the PNP was formed on January 29, 1991, Chief Supt. Cesar P. Nazareno, the first PNP big boss since the Integrated National Police and the Philippine Constabulary were merged pursuant to Republic Act 6975 of 1990, was already parroting “reforms” and promising to kick out from service undesirable policemen.

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“My first instruction to incoming PNP chief Oscar Albayalde is to go after PNP personnel who are a disgrace to their uniform, especially those who are AWOL, sleeping, non-performing, and drinking on the job. All of them should be dismissed from the service,” Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Eduardo Año said over the weekend.
After 27 years, the PNP wasn’t yet reformed?
Scoundrels in uniform weren’t yet terminated?
Año added: “I told General Albayalde to cleanse the police ranks of bad eggs in order to make the DILG the best department in government. The PNP leadership should conduct more of the surprise inspections so that we can weed out the non-performing police officer.”
It seems the PNP is the only organization in the world permanently embroiled in a long-lasting appeal for “internal cleansing” and “reforms.”

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Tourism officials in nearby provinces should come up with master plans to promote their respective tourist destinations and take advantage of the six-month closure order imposed by President Duterte on Boracay Island in Caticlan, Aklan effective April 26.
Some tourists who have canceled their reservations in Boracay might be interested to explore in neighboring Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros where there are prestine beaches, waterfalls, and world class resorts like Boracay, aside from their magnificent parks and islands, especially this summer.
Now is the right time to mobilize their resources and show to the world that Boracay is not the end-all and be-all of tourism wonders in Panay Island.
They may take a cue from the recent announcement of Iloilo Governor Arthur “Art” Defensor Sr. to establish a Northern Iloilo Tourism Authority (NITA).
Defensor probably intends to attract those who have been tantalized by Boracay’s beauty to take a closer look at Sicogon Island in Carles, among other beaches with potentials in world tourism in the coastal territories of northern Iloilo.

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Was President Duterte wrong to fire Undersecretary Maia Chiara Halmen Valdez of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary exactly a year ago?
Valdez was fired because she was supposedly seeking to overturn the denial of rice importation. National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Jason Aquino had been pushing for more rice imports.
The President has ordered Aquino to proceed with rice importation amid the dwindling supply of government-subsidized grain, exactly a year after giving Valdez the boot.