The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has flexed its muscles to press for a more aggressive manhunt in support of government’s serious effort to arrest ex-army general Jovito Palparan Jr., Palawan Governor Joel Reyes, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes and convicted Dinagat Island Congressman and cult leader Ruben Ecleo Jr., also known as the “Big Four”.
CIDG chief, Police Director Samuel Pagdilao Jr. has directed all regional and provincial chiefs to mobilize the nationwide network of Community Investigative Support (CIS) and to prioritize the gathering of information not limited to the whereabouts of the Big Four but also to identify the personalities that continuously provide refuge and financial support to the four fugitives and include them as CIDG’s targets of operation.
Pagdilao told all CIDG commanders to make it a top priority task for all CIS to help the CIDG in finding leads on the whereabouts of fugitives Palparan and the two Reyeses so that they can be brought to the bar of justice to answer for the crime they were accused of.
Pagdilao also directed the CIS in CARAGA region to put more efforts in finding out if Ecleo, who is convicted of parricide, is still holed-up in Dinagat Island and identify several places where he may be possibly taking refuge.
Pagdilao, in the light of reports that some folks were aiding the fugitives to elude arrests, issued an appeal particularly to the people sympathetic to Palparan and the two Reyeses to instead help convince the said fugitives to turn themselves in to the authorities and prove their innocence in courts.
Pagdilao stressed that these efforts to arrest Palparan, who is being charged with kidnapping and illegal detention, and the Reyeses, who are being tagged in the killing of environmentalist and broadcaster Gerry Ortega, do not mean that they have been found guilty already. He added that Palparan and the Reyes brothers should see this instead as an opportunity to clear their names in court.
Pagdilao said that to help the government speed up the manhunt against the Big Four, the CIDG has dedicated three telephone numbers that concerned citizens may reach and call for any confidential information that will provide lead to the operatives on the whereabouts of the Big Four. The numbers are 09277170752, 09283384482 and 09327018909.
Pagdilao however warned pranksters and those who would use the CIDG hotline numbers to mislead the authorities that the CIDG has the full capability to track them and make them liable for obstruction of justice.
The CIDG, apart from its own websites (www.cidg.gov.ph and www.cidg-cis.com) that provide photos and other essential details on the personalities of the Big Four including the rewards, has also activated its own Facebook and Tweeter accounts that can be used by CIS volunteers as well as the other concerned citizens to report information relative to the manhunt operation.
Pagdilao said that in order to satisfy the public’s clamor to bring the Big Four to the bar of justice, government’s pronouncements particularly those made by President Aquino III and PNP chief, Police Director General Nicanor Bartolome must be matched with aggressive manhunt operation coupled with proactive information operations that use all available methods of dissemination and feedback mechanism like social networking sites.
