MUNTINLUPA CITY, Philippines — The Muntinlupa City Police has created a special investigation task group to focus on the killing of suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) legal officer Atty. Frederick Anthony Santos.

The police said neither the closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) installed in the vicinity of the crime scene nor the dashcam of Santos’ vehicle was able to capture the shooting incident that took the life of the official.

Muntinlupa City Police chief PCol. Hermogenes Duque Cabe, however, said they can still check on all the CCTV in the possible route that the suspects took in fleeing the crime scene.
 
“Ongoing ang investigation pa rin hanggang ngayon,” Cabe said.

Based on the autopsy, Santos sustained two gunshots in the head, one on his neck, and three on his left arm.

Witnesses said the suspects left the crime scene on a motorcycle.

The Department of Justice, on the other hand, has earlier ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct its own investigation on the killing of the suspended BuCor official.

The DOJ doesn’t discount the possibility that the shooting is connected with the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) controversy at the agency.

Santos was supposed to return to work on March 12 after the six-month suspension meted out on him by the Office of the Ombudsman due to anomalous implementation of the GCTA.

Meanwhile, Senator Ronald dela Rosa believes that the drug lords in the New Bilibid Prisons are behind the killing of Atty. Santos.

“’yung nagpapatay dyan sa mga tao natin sa BuCor, yan din yung mga nakakulong na drug lord dyan na kumbaga hindi nasunod yung kanilang kagustuhan. Marami pa yang pera at galamay sa labas na pwede kang ipapatay. Tinatakot nga ang mga judge, mga piskal,” dela Rosa said. —(from the report of Correspondent Sherwin Culubong) /mbmf

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has confirmed that the armed men in the viral video who beat up a man in Cebu City are cops.

PNP Chief PGen. Oscar Albayalde made the confirmation, saying that the personalities who assaulted an arrested drug suspect were indeed police officers. However, the PNP still refuse to disclose their identities.

The video, that was posted on Facebook, showed that the armed men were in uniform and were carrying high caliber firearms. The post was said to have been published by the victim’s cousin.

Albayalde also said investigation on the case is underway.

“According to Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management  (DIDM) talagang members ng PNP but they are under the custody already. The DIDM is taking the lead in investigating them,” he said. —Aileen Cerrudo (with reports from Lea Ylagan)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) will issue on Wednesday (August 1) the “clean rider sticker” in a campaign to curb riding-in-tandem criminals.

According to PNP Chief PDG Oscar Albayalde, the stickers will be available to motorists who will voluntarily register their motorbikes to the PNP.

“This is voluntary in nature. Kung ayaw naman natin palagyan ng sticker ang ating motor, okay lang. Mas maganda lang kasi kung mayroon. At least, makita na ng pulis na na-inspect na. Once upon a time, ang motor na iyon ay legally acquired,” Albayalde explained.

The PNP Chief added that motorcycle bearing the sticker would be allowed an easy pass in checkpoints. The sticker will also spare the rider from being suspected of crimes in their area.

Albayalde emphasized that the stickers are free of charge. He asked the public to report to authorities anyone, especially policemen, who will charge any amount for the said stickers.

 “We’d like to tell the public here na wala pong bayad ito. Kami mismo ang nagpagawa nito. We have done this before sa Region 3 so we will do it in a national level,” he explained.

To avail of the sticker, the motorcycle owner needs to go to the nearest police station and present the vehicle’s OR-CR. In case the vehicle is registered under a different name, present the deed of sale, driver’s license and two government IDs.

The PNP assures that all applicants for the stickers will be subjected under careful background investigation.

The stickers have security features to prevent counterfeiting. Checkpoint enforcers will use a special mobile app that will allow them to see the name of the owner and the OR-CR number of the vehicle once the mobile app traces the sticker.

“This is one way of checking on the motorcycles that are allegedly being used in different criminal activities lalong lalo na iyong tinatawag natin motorcycle riding suspects. This is one way of prevention,” Albayalde said. – Lea Ylagan / Marje Pelayo