Police General "Kidnapped" by Ball Pens and Notes Wielding Men

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

What is the difference between South Korea’s Danwon high school Vice Principal Kang Min-gyu, 52, and pork barrel scams alleged conspirators Janet Napoles, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon Revilla?

GENERAL AND MEDIA MEN - Police two-star General  Manuel Barcena
  (2nd from left) recently rekindled and renewed old ties with media practitioners
of Pangasinan in a luncheon at the seafood restaurant Silverios in the city.
 Barcena, a PMA class 1981 classmate of Chief PNP Allan Purisima, was in
Dagupan  to attend the homecoming for the Top Chief of Police (COP) challenge
shooting competition with former police chiefs of the city as one of the draws in
 the month long Bangus Festival. According to Dagupan COP Supt. Chris Abrahano
 those who responded to the invitation were Police Director Barcena; Police Chief
Superintendent Noli G. Taliño, Deputy Director, Special Action Force; Police Chief
Superintendent Francisco Manalo Jr. (retired); Police Senior Superintendent Mariano
Luis M. Verzosa Jr. (retired); Police Superintendent Ditz Quijardo (retired); and Police
Superintendent Romeo M. Caramat Jr. 

Kang committed suicide by hanging himself with a belt on his neck on a tree because of the shame where a ferry that carried 476 passengers mostly students under his watch capsized. Among the passengers, 202 as of press time have been saved.

274, son of a gun, have been feared drown.

What’s the difference between former Army general Angelo Reyes and former police chief Avelino Razon (who is incarcerated now at Camp Crame for malversation in connection with the alleged bogus repair and maintenance of 28 police armored vehicles to the tune of P358.58 million in 2007 and 2008),plunder accused Generals Carlos Garcia, Jacinto Ligot, and Lt. Col. George Rabusa, and Supt. Dionesio Borromeo, former Dagupan City chief of police ( who is jailed at Muntinlupa after he was accused of allegedly protecting a trillion of pesos worth of illegal drug shabu laboratory in La Union), and Euro Generals?

Reyes who was fingered to be involved in hundreds of millions of pesos of “paba-on” shot himself to death because he could not bear the shame the accusation being hurled to him by the media and senators of the Republic.

Except for Kang and Reyes, the rest have the gall to tell us: “Just see you in court”

*** 

A snappy chief of police recommended by a general in his present post would not acquiesced to the offer of his patron to grab a bigger and “lucrative” police station in Pangasinan.

“Hindi ko na tinanggap kasi iyong papalitan ko dito (a smaller police station in a first class town) nagyayabang na walang “Eyer” (Philippine Military Academy or Philippine National Police Academy graduate) na puweding pumalit sa kanya.

His predecessor, an ROTC graduate who joined the officers’ corps of the police, has been crowing about his high and mighty backers in and outside the government.

This snappy police chief, a PNPA alumnus, was even told by his PNPA fellow alumni members in the province to stay put as they were offended by the remarks of this ROTC graduate.

“We just want to show to him that he was not invincible”.

Who said that the intrigue at the PNP is between PMA and PNPA graduates? Nandiyan din ang intriga sa mga ROTC graduates, although considered as nuisance, in the lobbying game for the post of chief of police.

*** 

I asked recently veteran media man Ruel Camba, PR man of Dagupan City Vice Mayor Brian Lim, why on earth his patron and city councilors Guillermo Vallejos, Red Erfe-Mejia, and Alvin Coquia have the gall not to answer the vitriol against them of the community newspaper Sunday Punch that says every week of its issue “Sabihin ninyo sa tao kung magkano ang kinita ng Dagupan sa mga nakaraang fiesta at Bangus Festival. Huwag ninyong ibulsa ang pera ng Dagupan at tama na ang pagsisinungaling ninyo”

Son of a gun, is this another Kang and Reyes argument?

The deafening silence of these folks is very damaging on their reputation.

Ruel, a block timer of Lim at DWPR, said he asked the vice mayor on this Punch’s dish and was told that he already submitted at the city accountant the financial reports on the fiesta he headed as Hermano Mayor.

Each of the Hermano Mayor according to news report received a P3 million seed money and earned an averaged of P2.5 million in the rents of the baratillo.

“I don’t know about the rest of the guys if they have liquidated their financial reports on the fiesta they headed,” Ruel added.

With Brian telling Ruel that he submitted already to the city accountant his financial reports, the burden of proof that Brian did not liquidate would be on Sunday Punch and Mayor Belen Fernandez.

I have an interest on this brouhaha since Councilor Coquia failed to pay our Northern Watch Newspaper on the Festival’s colored back page advertisement worth P10, 000 it availed.

This fuss on the failures of these individuals to submit their dues to the city government comes to the fore again after last year’s Hermano Mayor lawyer Liberato “Ope” Reyna Jr. submitted and published his financial reports on the income and expenses he incurred on December last year.

*** 

I was not able to watch the 2014 Bangus Festival Top COP Shooting Challenge as policemen who manned the gate of the Dagupan Practical Shooting Association (DPSA) firing range told me as I parked my car that media men headed by a certain Atong Remogat kidnapped police Two-Star General Manuel Barcena and held him hostage at the seafood restaurant Silverios.

Barcena, PMA class of 1981 who hailed from Laoac, Pangasinan, told us in a luncheon at the restaurant that after retirement he would produce an anti-communist film by exposing the ruthlessness of the Reds to their members and the populace.

“Kukunin ko si Atong, Harold Barcelona, at Bingo Lucasan na actors”.

Barcena did not tell me if the three would be playing the villain or hero’s role in the flick.

The two-star general told us that his accomplishments as the chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO) and as the top brass of the PNP-AFP Operational Set up on fighting the Commies were filling criminal charges against the godless ideologues who used to file cases against the military and the police every time they had a tiff with the latter.

“Ngayon baliktad na, kami na ngayon sa legal matters ang sa offensive”.

He cited the cases of the top Communist Party of the Philippines and New People Army top leaders Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma and the daughter of Ka Rosal who are in the calaboose because of the non-bailable murder charges against them.

Oh by the way, before the group bid goodbye to General Barcena  (who looks like actor Dennis Trillo during his stint as chief of police of Dagupan City) around midnight, I was able to call his fans at the Police Regional Office-1 Chief of Directorial Staff Senior Supt. Marlou C. Chan (PMA '85) and Region-1 Intelligence Chief Senior Supt. Mariel Magaway (PMA Class '86). Both Magaway and Chan attested to me that "Barsoy" was not only "matatag (formidable) but "matapang (brave) pa.

The good general told us that he is the mistah (classmate) at the PMA of PNP Chief Allan Purisima and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Emmanuel Bautista. They would be retiring after a colorful military and police service this year. 

 (You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too attotomortz@yahoo.com).