Erap orders arrest of 16 Manila government officials
>> Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has ordered the arrest of 16 public officials and policemen suspected to be involved in drugs.
In a statement, the Manila Police District (MPD) said Estrada ordered police director Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel to carry out immediately the operation against the 16 high-value targets (HVTs).
Coronel said the 16 HVTs include public servants from the Philippine National Police (PNP), the city hall, barangay and national government offices based in Manila.
“They’re both elected and appointed (officials). Some are drug users, coddlers, traffickers, or protectors, including from the PNP,” Coronel said.
“We have been monitoring them. Once we are done with the validation and it proved positive, we will conduct an operation – either entrapment, arrest or neutralization,” he added.
Coronel explained that information on the 16 targets were provided by arrested drug suspects and backed up by records from the MPD’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Division and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
The MPD said that over the past two weeks, 38 drug suspects have been arrested in the city while 200 surrendered in anti-drug and criminality operations.
The MPD quoted Estrada as saying, “Government officials who are involved in drugs do not deserve any mercy. They’re even worse than the ordinary street pushers because they took an oath to uphold the law and serve the people.”
“We will support you all the way. We will provide whatever you need, so long as these targets are put behind bars,” Estrada added.
Estrada's office recently acquired P20 million worth of brand new firearms for Manila cops and approved the release of a P45 million for the allowance of the city's 4,652-man police force.
The MPD said since Estrada became Manila mayor in 2013, he has allotted P1.9 billion in funds for crime prevention.
The amount includes P136 million in funds for the back allowances of MPD members and the purchase of 41 new mobile patrol cars, and 110 electric personal transporters.
From: http://www.msn.com/
ALG, GMA News
