MANILA, Philippines – Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II told the 4 new National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) district chiefs that they have his support, but reminded them they will ultimately be held accountable for the number of crimes in their districts.

“This is your opportunity. Don’t waste it. What we want is reduction in crimes,” Roxas told the 4 in a meeting on Monday, October 13.

The appointment of the 4 new district chiefs was only announced October 8, upon the recommendation of NCRPO chief Police Director Carmelo Valmoria.

Roxas said in an earlier statement that the 4 district chiefs were relieved “part of the reinvigorated anti-criminality campaign for NCR.”

In a succeeding interview, Roxas noted that although the crime rates in the 4 districts did not rise, it also failed to go down.

“Kaya minarapat natin na subukan naman ang ibang liderato,” Roxas told GMA News TV. (That’s why we decided maybe it’s time for new leadership.)

Chief Superintendent Henry Ranola took over supervision of the Southern Police District (SPD) from Chief Superintendent Jose Erwin Villacorte; Chief Superintendent Jonathan Ferdinand Miano replaced Chief Superintendent Edgar Layon as Northern Police District (NPD) chief; Senior Superintendent Rolando Nana is now Manila Police District (MPD) chief in place of Chief Superintendent Rolando Asuncion; while Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao took over the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) from Chief Superintendent Richard Albano.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor, meanwhile, told reporters in another press conference that the 4 former district chief’s sacking didn’t exactly mean they did bad but that “they didn’t meet the standards of Secretary Roxas.”

Bring crime down

In a statement, Roxas said he reminded new district chiefs to follow the reforms the Philippine National Police (PNP) has put in place the past few months, including the implementation of the Incident Report Form and the collation of data.

Collating accurate data is a big component of the PNP’s “Oplan Lambat,” which aims to reduce criminality in the National Capital Region through smarter and better deployment of cops.

“Importante ito kasi kung hindi natin nakukuha ang datos, paano natin malalaman kung saan tayo pupunta?” Roxas said. (This is important because if we don’t have the data, how will we know where we’re going?)

Under Oplan Lambat, police teams are also instructed to focus on one criminal at a time, to ensure that cases are closed. Repeat offenders are also a focus of the PNP NCRPO’s efforts.

Roxas reminded the 4 chiefs that they won’t “owe their appointment to the elected mayors in their area, but to their accomplishments.”

The NPD covers 4 cities – Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela. The SPD, meanwhile, spans 7 local government units: Pasay City, Makati City, Parañaque City, Las Piñas City, Muntinlupa City, Taguig City, and the municipality of Pateros.

MPD and QCPD, meanwhile, typically record the highest incidents of crime in the National Capital Region. 

“All I know is that the present statistics is not acceptable,” added Roxas. – Rappler.com