PNP to Fil-Chinese traders: Stay calm

In the wake of the recent kidnap-slay of Filipino-Chinese steel magnate Anson Que and his driver Armanie Pabillo, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil assured members of the Filipino-Chinese community of their safety and security.

- EMMANUEL TUPAS

Marbil and other senior PNP officials met with representatives of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) at Camp Crame yesterday to address concerns within the Filipino-Chinese community following the kidnapping cases that have raised worries within the business sector and the general public.

The PNP has documented 13 kidnapping cases since January. Eight of the incidents involved Chinese nationals as victims.

Marbil assured the FFCCCII that the PNP is exerting all efforts to arrest Que's killers and suspects in other kidnapping cases as he urged the federation members to stay calm.

"We are mobilizing all investigative assets and leveraging every capability to ensure these incidents do not recur," Marbil said in a statement.

The PNP and FFCCCII have agreed to establish a collaborative program focused on proactive measures to detect potential threats.

Among these are enhancing coordination with territorial police units, strengthening surveillance efforts in key business hubs and providing safety briefings to member companies and communities.

Marbil maintained that the country remains safe for business and travel despite Que’s killing, stressing the PNP remains vigilant and responsive to any threat to peace and order.

“We call for calm and unity. These isolated incidents do not define our nation,” he said.

The federation along with several other business groups issued a strongly worded statement last Thursday, decrying Que’s murder and saying the recent kidnappings are not “isolated incidents.”

They demanded “swift and unrelenting” action as they rejected “empty platitudes, the hollow theories, the bureaucratic inertia that too often follow such horrors.”