Did you know that there are around 500,000 persons facing arrest warrants for various criminal cases in the country?

How to account them all is now the focus as the Philippine National Police (PNP) directed all chiefs of police and unit commanders to update their data on wanted persons and join forces in running after wanted persons down to the municipal and city levels.

And according to PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez, Jr., it starts with the existence of ranking the top 10 priority of the month, and regularly updating them every time those in the wanted priority list are arrested.

For Nartatez, accounting all the wanted persons brings hope and renewed confidence to the law enforcement and justice system in the country, especially to the crime victims, some of them already gave up over years of waiting for the arrest of those who wronged them.

“Each wanted person arrested does not only bring justice to the victims. In most cases, it also serves as a crime prevention measure since some of them were found to be repeat offenders,” said Nartatez.

Several police stations were setting a monthly task of accounting all those in the 10 most wanted list, as well as a regular review of arrest warrant records issued by courts to check if the listed address falls within their areas of responsibility.

The National Capital Region Police Office for instance repeatedly accounted for all the 10 most wanted persons in Metro Manila for a couple of months and in the case of Taguig City Police Station, it consistently arrested all the 10 most wanted persons in its list for at least five consecutive months.

Nartatez explains that the operation should not be limited to last known address of the fugitives, adding that coordination with other police units are also necessary, noting a number of cases in the past wherein wanted persons are arrested in other areas.

For instance, most of the wanted persons in Metro Manila were arrested in various provinces, particularly in their hometowns.

In the cases of high-profile personalities, the PNP earlier acknowledged citing various factors.

In the case of Atong Ang for instance, his resources and wide networks are serving as his edge in playing hide and seek with law enforcers while in the case of Sen. Ronald “Bato Dela Rosa, his decades of background as police official has been an advantage as knows how intelligence networks work.

But the PNP said no fugitive can hide forever as in the case of former police lieutenant colonel Rafael Dumlao who was collared after months of hiding over his involvement in the brutal kidnap-slay of a foreign executive.

Based on the PNP’s Crime Information, Reporting and Analysis System or CIRAS, there are around 500,000 fugitives across the country that are subject of arrest warrants of various courts.

A number of them dated back several years ago while some wanted persons were also confirmed to have already died.

Nartatez also emphasized the need to review and account the arrest warrants to check how many of those facing arrests were already collared or passed away—and he said he wants to account all of those who remain scot-free.

“There are about 500,000 covered with warrants of arrest and we will look for all of them one after another,” said Nartatez.

“No matter how long the cases are, let us bear in mind that there are victims who still hope that justice would be served. Let us not fail them by focusing on this particular mandate of the PNP,” he emphasized.

He said the campaign against wanted persons must be included in all command conferences from regional down to provincial and city levels.

Police commanders were also tasked to step up the coordination with the community, particularly at the barangay level, in order to ensure that no community will be used as a safe haven for fugitives.

On Tuesday, July 21, the PNP awarded around P9.2 million reward to 21 informants and this measure, according to Nartatez, is part of the efforts to encourage public participation to account for wanted persons.

“The successful operations based on the information relayed by tipsters is proof of the importance of community engagements in law enforcement and in maintaining peace and order,” he said.