MANILA -- Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said Monday that the recent attacks targeting politicians were "isolated cases."
“Personally, I would say na these are isolated cases. But still, these are killings that is needing to be solved and to be pursued by our law enforcement agencies in investigating. Ano ba yung puno't dulo or ano ba yung mga motibo ng pagpatay sa kanila?” said Azurin.
He said police investigators now have a lead on the February 17 ambush of Gov. Mamintal "Bombit" Adiong Jr.
Adiong survived the shooting, while 4 of his security personnel were killed.
“I think within the week we will be filing the case against the (suspects),” said Azurin.
On the February 19 ambush in the town of Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya targeting Aparri, Cagayan vice mayor Rommel Alameda, the PNP chief said police investigators are now in pursuit of persons of interest.
Asked if the cases are cause for alarm, the PNP chief said otherwise.
“I would say so na hindi pa alarming kasi dini-determine nga natin dahil iba-iba yung mga situation, iba-iba yung mga reason bakit pinatay itong mga ito. Sabi ko nga eh it's either political, personal, business rivalry or other reason why these killings are happening. Incidentally siguro or accidentally it just so happened they are in public service,” said Azurin.
Azurin said he has issued directives to National Support Units (NSUs) of the PNP to intensify operation against organized crime groups in different regions, especially at the National Capital Region (NCR).
“And then we check also yung mga pattern ng mga killings so that we would be able to identify anong grupo yung mga ginagamit. Kung ito ba ay mga gun-for-hire or ito ba ay mga parang nanghoholdap lang,” said Azurin.
He expressed his belief that the House leaders' purpose in meeting the PNP leadership is for Congress to know if there’s a need to adjust the funding for equipment and training personnel.
“So that they can provide or they can give us supplemental budget para nang sa ganun ay patibayin at paigtingin ang capability ng ating kapulisan hindi lamang sa kanilang trabaho but in terms of also mga kagamitan na sa tingin namin ay kailangan pa namin ma-procure para sa ikakaganda ng pagseserbisyo ng kapulisan,” said Azurin.
Last week, Azurin ordered police units to assess the threat on government officials following a series of ambush and shooting incidents against local executives.
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