By Alec Go
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) assured that police visibility will be strengthened amid the reported spate of killings and other crime incidents in the National Capital Region (NCR) and nearby areas on social media.
In Wednesday’s Palace briefing, DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said he has already asked Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. to provide a report and a timeline of the incidents.
“Ito lang ang ma-a-assure ko sa ating mga kababayan, huwag kayong mag-alala. Noong ako’y naitalang DILG [secretary] at ako’y bumisita rito sa Camp Crame, ang unang sinabi ko is police visibility. Importante rito lahat ng kapulisiyahan nasa labas ng kalye,” he said.
“We will give you the real numbers here and expect more police visibility,” he continued, adding that barangay workers will also be tapped as force multipliers.
Abalos said he has yet to receive Azurin’s report to review the authenticity of the reported crimes.
“Sa mga nakikita kasing nakakalat, he informed that – he gave me numbers at sinasabi niya sa akin there were some that were there about years ago, months ago, nire-rehash daw. It would be hard to comment on something that we do not have the numbers yet,” he said.
Netizens and other media accounts have recently posted that several individuals have gone missing aside from other incidents of kidnapping.
In a briefing on Monday, Azurin said they have checked the videos of similar incidents from media platforms including some that had “happened in the past.”
“These are information that are very vital sa ating kapulisan. Everything that are being forwarded to us are already being acted by our investigators, at mas mapapadali because ang mga video na naipapadala sa mga social platforms, it would aid ang kapulisan natin,” he said. – gb
