New PNP chief to implement ‘one-strike policy’ vs jueteng

Newly-installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Raul Bacalzo on Friday said he plans to implement a “one-strike policy" against the illegal numbers game jueteng. Bacalzo, who was officially sworn in as the 16th chief of the PNP on Friday, said under the policy, police officials in areas where jueteng operations are still active will immediately be removed from their posts. He plans to deploy “secret agents" in different areas in the country to check if cops are involved in operations of the illegal numbers game. The also hopes to catch big jueteng operators and their protectors to restore the credibility of the country’s police force.
“I would like to consider this as a challenge and not really as an attack in the credibility of the PNP. I am confident that we can still attain the credible status of the PNP," he said in his speech after his oath-taking ceremony on Friday. Bacalzo earlier vowed to intensify the campaign against jueteng under his leadership and the government of his full support in curbing the illegal numbers game. The new police chief, however, has himself been linked to the illegal numbers game by a group of junior police officers who accused him of ‘"receiving protection money from jueteng operators" even before his appointment to the PNP’s top post. Bacalzo has denied the accusations of the group which calls itself “Junior Officers of the PNP," saying he has been assigned to the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon for so long that it is not possible for him to have links to jueteng operators in the provinces. –VVP/JV, GMANews.TV