PNP creates body to address kidnappings across borders
By QUEENIE CASIMIRO, ABS-CBN Zamboanga | 11/21/2008 12:57 AM
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In a bid to solve problems faced by law enforcers running after kidnap-for-ransom groups, the Philippine National Police (PNP) recently created the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations or DIPO.
Chief Superintendent Angelo Sunglao, Director of the Police Regional Office-9, said the DIPO will address territorial boundaries that hinder police operations in the regions.
Senior Superintendent Lurimer Detran, Zamboanga City police chief, earlier lamented that they usually lost track of kidnap-for-ransom groups after they transport their kidnap victims to nearby Basilan Province.
"With the activation of this new office," Sunglao said, "elements of the Zamboanga City Police Office can still run after the group and retrieve the victim."
The PNP activated the DIPO-West which covers Regions 9, 12 and Autnonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on November 14 with Chief Superintendent Felizardo Serapio as its Directorate Chief. DIPO-East would be headed by Chief Superintendent Andy Caro.
Sunglao explained: "This is similar to the Area Commands of the AFP which is the result of the division of the then Southern Command...the Eastmincom –Eastern Mindanao Command] and Westmincom [western Mindanao Command]."
Three residents of Zamboanga City were among the recent victims of kidnapping in the South. Businessman Inocente Bautista and nurse Preciosa Feliciano were both kidnapped in the city and brought to Basilan. Nursing student Joed Pilanga, who remains captive, is believed being kept by his captors in the island province.
DIPO-West is set to conduct its first Command Conference in Zamboanga City next week to discuss the kidnapping problem.
