MANILA,– The Philippine National Police has declared an all-out war against gunmen riding in tandem on motorcycles and responsible for the murder of 2,089 persons in 2011, a government press release said.

PNP Director General Nicanor  Bartolome issued the order because of the string of high-profile criminal activities committed with impunity by motorcycle-riding gunmen in the streets.

The latest instructions of the PNP chief provides the strategic guidance for PNP units to redirect operational thrusts toward motorcycle-riding criminal elements, particularly the notorious riding in tandem suspects responsible for a string of high-profile criminal activities.

“Criminal elements have taken advantage of the high-speed mobility provided by motorcycles and have used these efficient vehicles as instruments of crime,” Bartolome said.

The campaign strategy is an ideal blend of police action, on the one hand, and public vigilance and community support,  the press release said.

Journalists were among those murdered by hired gunmen riding in motorbikes.

The latest victim was Christopher Guarin, 42, a veteran radio block-timer commentator and editor-publisher of Tatak News Nationwide, a community newspaper based in General Santos City, who was shot dead by motorcycle-riding-in tandem gunmen in the presence of his horrified wife early this month.

In 2011, the PNP recorded 1,700 crime incidents involving riding-in-tandem suspects with 2,089 victims. This is higher than the 1,565 incidents in 2010 with 1,819 victims.

Central Luzon and the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon (Calabarzon) provinces, and Southern Mindanao posted the highest number of riding-in-tandem crime incidents.

Bartolome cited the success of the Motorized Anti-Sreetcrime Operatives program of the National Capital Region Police Office that significantly reduced the cases of riding-in-tandem crimes by a huge margin.

He encouraged other police regional offices to learn from the experience of NCRPO in operations against motorcycle-riding criminal elements.*PNA

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