REYES: 'KOTONG' COPS GONE IN THREE MONTHS

Newly appointed Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes
is giving himself three months to cleanse the police in Metro Manila
of officers who are inveterate extortionists.

Speaking at a forum with editors of The Manila Times Thursday, Reyes
said that by weeding out kotong and hulidap policemen he hopes to win
back the public's trust in the Philippine National Police.

"Kotong cops usually victimize the common people, like jeepney and
taxi drivers and small-time businessmen; hulidap targets people who
are willing to pay bribes and those who are easily intimidated. These
illegal operations account for the tarnished image of policemen
nowadays," he said.

Administrative and criminal sanctions, aside from summary dismissal,
policemen proven to have resorted to extortion, Reyes said.

"The great majority of those in the PNP are good cops. However, one
rogue cop is a rogue cop too many," he said.

Reyes said he would apply to the PNP the same principle he had used
successfully in the National Antikidnapping Task Force: assuring protection
to people who will testify against venal officials.

"We have to bring these people to justice by filing charges against
them. But we cannot do that without complainants, so we are here to
assure them of protection from hulidap cops," he said.

The move, he said, is part of his integrated and comprehensive plan to
establish cooperation between law enforcers, local executives and the
community.

"Each sector should do its part to ensure that these rogue policemen
are brought to justice," said Reyes.

Earlier, Teresita Ang-See, chair of the Citizens Action Against Crime,
said some policemen were behind the series of hulidap crimes in Manila
and Quezon City.

Ang-See said the policemen extorted between P600,000 and P1.2 million
from their victims.

They operate by planting drugs as evidence and threaten to charge the
victims in court unless they paid up.

Reyes said he would also push for the efficient mobilization of the
police force to strengthen crime prevention.

Included in his plans are the setting up of police outposts,
checkpoints and the deployment of roving patrols. Each outpost will be
manned round the clock by five officers, who will be issued a phone
and a tricycle.

Security forces guarding the 11 approaches to Metro Manila will also
be strengthened.

"These will be done in such a way that they won't inconvenience the
riding public. Motorists will be addressed properly," Reyes said.

Visibility is important, he added, because it discourages criminals
from carrying out their plan.