CRIMES TESTING AQUINO METTLE
MANILA, JANUARY 21, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) THE rash of recent high-profile crimes in the country was meant to mock the capabilities of President Benigno Aquino 3rd to lead, a lawmaker said on Thursday.
Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito of San Juan City (Metro Manila) disclosed that he was informed that there is a strong belief among state intelligence officials that such crimes were a challenge to the Aquino administration's authority to enforce law and order.
He said that the recent robberies, car thefts and murders were brazen, considering that their perpetrators targeted prominent personalities or those belonging to the middle class to gain significant media exposure.
Ejercito made the statements a few days after car dealers Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano and Lozano's driver Ernani Sensil were found dead in separately locations in Central Luzon. All of them took gunshots to the head and their bodies, as well as Lozano's car, later were found burned.
On Wednesday, a first cousin of former Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas 2nd, Margarita Fores, was victimized by car thieves, who took away her Toyota Land Cruiser while it was parked in Makati City (Metro Manila).
Also on Thursday, Carl Balita, an owner of a chain of nursing review centers in the country, became the latest victim of car thieves.
Balita's Toyota Grandia Hi-Ace van (ZSA 299) was taken on Timog Avenue and Mother Ignacia Street in Quezon City (Metro Manila).
"The architect of these recent criminal tricks wanted to create a horrific peace and order situation to downplay the high popularity and economic gains being boasted by the Aquino administration," Ejercito said.
President Aquino, he added, should address the apparent crime wave by convening a peace and order summit with the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police (PNP) and with city mayors.
"Now is the perfect time that PNP officials prove their worth as protectors of citizens considering that the people are slowly losing hope with the PNP institution [over] its blunders and personnel involved in criminal activities," Ejercito said.
Rep. Rodolfo Biazon of Muntinlupa City (Metro Manila), an ally of President Aquino in the Liberal Party, agreed that criminals could be testing the capabilities of the President.
"But I prefer to wait for results of investigations. I call on the PNP to look deeper at these incidents because it is hard to make conclusions without having relevant information in our hands," he told the weekly Serye News Forum in Quezon City.
Palace assures public Malacañang also on Thursday admitted that the series of recent criminal incidents is alarming, but assured the public that the PNP is addressing the matter.
"Certainly, it [crime series] is a cause for alarm, which is why the President has asked the PNP to be on top of this, to take extra measures," deputy spokesman Abigail Valte said.
"And the cases that have happened are being investigated by a task force," she added.
Valte said that the Palace trusts PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo to solve the criminal cases. "Certainly, it's a challenge to the PNP. It is a challenge that the PNP must deliver [on]," she added.
Valte said that Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo will give an update today on the status of investigation of the recent car thefts and murders.
Meanwhile, in Manila, police were able to recover a stolen vehicle and kill two suspected car thieves also on Thursday.
According to Manila Police District Station 4 commander, Supt. Jomar Modequillo, three men were seen riding a white "Ryan Patrick" taxi when they passed A.H Lacson Avenue and Dapitan Street in Sampaloc, Manila, at past 2 a.m..
The taxi refused to stop at a checkpoint, prompting police to chase it. The third suspect escaped. LLANESCA T. PANTI AND CRIS G. ODRONIA WITH REPORTS FROM JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA AND ETHELINDA T. CAIS
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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