By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – Five area police commands (APC) in the country have been abolished due to a duplication of functions and missions with other units, and have since been turned into a task force focused on the fight against private armed groups (PAGs).
“Their job is to address the PAGs. We will synergize the efforts of the regional office, provincial office and tactical elements,” Philippine National Police (PNP) acting chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a press briefing at Camp Crame on Monday.
He said the Task Force for the Disbandment of PAGs (TF DPAG) will synergize its efforts in the fight against the private armed groups with the regional and provincial police offices and “tactical elements.”
Without giving figures, Nartatez said: “There are a certain number of firearms that need to be accounted for,” describing these loose firearms as the “primary tool being used by these PAGs” in sowing violence.
He said the DPAG will be supervised by Lt. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo, the deputy chief for Operations of the PNP.
The APCs, formerly called Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO), were created to synchronize police operations similar to the major area commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The disbanded APCs as of Oct. 1 were APCs for Northern Luzon, Southern Luzon, Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Western Mindanao.
Nartatez said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr wanted to “rid the units that somehow duplicates the functions and missions of other units and this is the effect.” (PNA)
