CRAME FILES


NEXT year’s presidential and national elections will show how Philippine National Police commanders can fully comply with Gen. Jess Verzosa’s order to go after elected and appointed government officials known for employing too many heavily-armed bodyguards when they go around town.

Although it’s a tall order, I fully support Verzosa’s directive since it will surely boost the PNP’s bid to stop gun-related violence in next year’s polls particularly in perennial “hot spots” in Mindanao and parts of Luzon and Visayas.

I have covered some major incidents involving bodyguards of politicians -- popular or not -- who have engaged in bloody gunfights in past elections in Central Luzon particularly in Nueva Ecija, Southern Tagalog, Bicol particularly in Masbate and in Mindanao.

Sad to say, some of the politicians who were present at the scene when their bodyguards exchanged fire with their rivals are still active in politics and appear to be growing stronger politically.

Then there are politicians-turned-government officials known for their heavily-armed bodyguards riding in convoy of vehicles equipped with sirens and blinkers. These officials, I think, fear the ghost of their past and are afraid somebody is out to harm them if they go out alone and without their “security blanket.”

I once encountered one such official while having lunch with a friend in a Quezon City restaurant. I counted at least 13 bodyguards surrounding him and watched in disgust as he and his men left the area on board their SUVs with blinkers and sirens wailing.

A day after saying they will go after some local executives believed to be coddling organized criminal gangs and using them as their own private armies to raise funds for their reelection bid, Verzosa went a notch higher when he announced the crackdown on elected and appointed government officials known for abusing their authority.

How tough will the crackdown be? Verzosa and PNP deputy chief for operations Deputy Director General Jefferson P. Soriano said they will recommend the disqualification of any candidate in the 2010 elections who will be found having more than the allowed number of armed bodyguards.

I just hope that Comelec chairman Jose Melo will immediately respond to any report from the police regarding the presence of government officials, elected or appointed ones who continue to flaunt their power with their mixture of bodyguards riding vehicles equipped with sirens and blinkers.

Under the law, only the President and the Vice President are exempted from any gun ban in any election in the country.

The PNP has proposed to the Comelec that only bonafide personnel of the PNP, the Armed Forces and other law enforcement agencies and private detective and security agencies in proper uniform and in the actual performance of official duties shall be allowed to bear firearms during the election period.

Verzosa also said that “only bonafide personnel of the PNP, AFP, other LEAs and protective agents of private detective agencies shall be deputized as security detail during the election period, provided that they shall, at all times, be in proper uniform in the performance of official security duties.” He added that only two security details will be allowed per VIP/candidate including boxing icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao who is expected to run for the Sarangani congressional post.

The two senior PNP officials refused to name names although Gen. Soriano said the names of at least two prominent politicians were mentioned in his meeting with the Comelec.

Other senior PNP officers told me these personalities include some controversial Cabinet officials and governors in Mindanao known for their “convoy of vehicles with sirens and blinkers and loaded with heavily-armed bodyguards” each time they are in Manila or when visiting their provinces.