MANILA — “There will be no room for kidnapping in the Philippines.”
Outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rommel Marbil made this vow as the agency hurled its joint anti-kidnapping action committee (JAKAC) in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Wednesday.
“We recognize that kidnapping is not only a crime of greed but a crime of fear. Today, we are choosing courage over fear. We are choosing collaboration over fragmentation. We are choosing people’s safety over criminal profit,” Marbil said in a speech.
“We’ve learned our lessons from the recent kidnappings,” he added.
In his speech and a chance interview with reporters after the ceremony, Marbil noted the challenges of reviewing closed-circuit television footage when law enforcement responds slowly, and of tracking ransom payments made through cryptocurrency.
The PNP said the joint action committee is aimed at strengthening intelligence, speeding up deployment and response, ensuring airtight cases, and rescuing and supporting victims.
Marbil appointed Lt. Gen. Edgar Allan Okubo, PNP chief of the Directorial Staff and deputy chief for investigation, to lead the group.
According to the national police force, the committee will include the following agencies:
* Department of the Interior and Local Government
* Department of Justice
* Armed Forces of the Philippines
* Anti-Money Laundering Council
* Bureau of Immigration
* National Bureau of Investigation
* Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation
* Philippine Center for Transnational Crime
* Association of Southeast Asian Nations Police
* Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission
* National Security Council
* National Intelligence Coordinating Agency
* Department of Information and Communication Technology
* Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center
The group will also include the following private sector organizations:
* Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc.
* Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption
* Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order
* Bankers Association of the Philippines
* Makati Business Club
Marbil described the initiative as “a unified intelligence-driven and victim-centered mechanism to counter kidnapping through proactive collaboration.”
“In the past years, kidnapping cases have evolved, becoming more complex, transnational and often targeting the most vulnerable women, children, businessmen and even foreign nationals,” he said.
“The rise in sophistication and impunity of such criminal activities compels us to respond with equal if not greater resolve,” he added. (Jason Sigales © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
