PHILIPPINE National Police chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome yesterday activated the PNP anti-kidnapping group which will spearhead the government’s campaign against kidnapping.

The PNP-AKG which will be a regular PNP national operating unit will replace the disbanded Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response.  It will also be headed by PACER chief Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez, a lawyer from Philippine Military Academy Class 1984.

The PNP leadership envisions the PNP-AKG to be a highly-capable unit with well-trained and equipped hostage negotiators, investigators, crisis managers and tactical officers by the year 2030.

Bartolome expressed optimism that the PNP-AKG will deliver more accomplishments in the fight against kidnappings and handling  hostage negotiations.

He also encouraged members of the PNP-AKG to always work in partnership with the community and other government agencies and non-governmental organizations while performing their job.

The PNP-AKG replaced PACER which was created on July 27, 2002 to address the problem of kidnappings in the Philippines. During its nearly 10-year existence, PACER handled a total of 373 kidnapping cases and   solved 113 incidents. The period also saw the PACER filing more than 100 cases against the suspects resulting in the conviction of 140 notorious kidnappers.  It killed 164 others during actual rescue operations.

Nerez said there was a significant decrease in kidnapping-for-ransom incidents over the past eight years, from as high as 82 incidents in 2003 to an all-time low of 11 KFR cases in 2001.

Under Nerez, who was instrumental in the development of the standard operating procedures and protocol of the PNP on the proper handling of kidnapping-for-ransom cases, the PACER smashed dozens of known kidnapping gangs and neutralized heavily-armed kidnappers.

Nerez said that kidnappings went down in 2011 compared to the figures in 2010 due to the much-improved police presence particularly in Luzon and Visayas where PACER operatives have effectively smashed notorious kidnapping-for-ransom gangs with the help of the community.

They recorded 11 KFR cases involving organized crime groups and 14 terror-related kidnappings involving the Abu Sayyaf Group and other lawless elements in Mindanao in 2011. He said that they solved 82 percent of the cases in Luzon and Visayas.