July 13, 2001, Manila Bulletin, AFP, PNP, NBI agree on unified anti-crime drive,

July 13, 2001, Manila Bulletin, AFP, PNP, NBI agree on unified anti-crime drive,

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday signed an agreement on a unified, strong and nationwide campaign against organized crime, in compliance with a directive of President Arroyo.

The primary targets of the joint anti-crime campaign are the organized kidnap-for-ransom groups and criminal syndicates involved in illegal drugs, bank robberies and so-called heinous crimes.

The agreement was signed yesterday in the conference room of the PNP national headquarters by Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, AFP chief of staff, PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza, and NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco.

President Arroyo has given them 90 days to terminate or neutralize criminal groups throughout the country.

Mendoza, Villanueva, and Wycoco said the agreement will further enhance close cooperation among the three major players in the country's drive against criminality and all its anti-crime operations.

The signing of the agreement also set the guidelines, ground rules and other procedural actions to be observed by the PNP-AFP-NBI when conducting joint operations and investigation of heinous crime cases, particularly kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, and drug trafficking.

President Arroyo had earlier signed Executive Order No. 23 creating the National Anti-Crime Commission composed of nine government agencies representing the law enforcement and the prosecution service.

PNP chief Mendoza said the joint agreement gives the government the advantage of greater inter-operability among the PNP-AFP-NBI in compliance with the Arroyo administration's anti-criminality policy.

General Villanueva, meanwhile, said the Armed Forces has its own Anti-Crime Task Force (ACTAF) composed of elements from various military units that is ready to provide support to all anti-crime operations of the police.

The AFP Anti-Crime Task Force has under its operational command the Army's Special Operations Command, the Air Force's Special Operations Wing, and the elite Marines Recon Force.

"We are united and integrated into one body to accomplish our missions against crimes," Villanueva added.

The Joint Anti-Crime Operations Center (JAC-OPCEN) will be established at the Central Operation Center of the PNP-NHQ in Camp Crame to monitor joint anti-crime operations of the PNP-AFP-NBI, and it will be manned on a 24-hour basis.

Director Wycoco added that the NBI will provide the "brains" - meaning the intelligence input - to various operating units under the agreement. He added that effective intelligence gathering is always a prime necessity in any successful anti-crime operation. (Roy Sinfuego)