Sinas says nothing wrong in serving warrants early morning

December 3, 2020

The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Thursday said there is nothing wrong when police operatives served a warrant of arrest against two National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants in the early morning of November 25.

In a TV interview, General Debold Sinas said the operation was conducted around 3 am to prevent the couple, Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio, from escaping.

Magpantay and Topacio were killed during the operation after they allegedly fired at the operatives.

Sinas said search warrants can be served anytime .

“It was conducted at dawn so that they will not know...   because imagine if we search in the morning and they have spotters, contacts, when we arrive there they have already escaped,” Sinas said.

“That’s why that is the approach we did so that they will not know when or what time we will conduct the search,” he added.

Sinas said their operatives only conduct operations when they are armed with search warrant and warrant of arrest from courts.

Asked about the alleged house keeper that was allegedly missing, Sinas said he ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to look for that person.

“I already asked the operating unit if they saw a maid. So far they said none so that is only the allegations of the family… So I don’t know if that person is the one who gave the information… I already directed the CIDG to look for the said person and I asked IAS to give time in locating that person,” he said.

Sinas earlier said CIDG operatives implemented search warrants against the couple for alleged violations of the illegal possession of explosives and warrants of arrest for homicide and murder cases.

He said the IAS will conduct a motu proprio investigation on the incident.

When asked if PNP is only focused on targeting left- leaning individuals, Sinas said it is part of their job as law enforcement to solve the insurgency problem.

“We are a member of NTF- ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) and we are coordinating with our counterparts because we are directed to coordinate with the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and other agencies to help resolve the problems on insurgency,” he explained.

He did not comment when asked if they are monitoring members of the communist and militant groups. Ella Dionisio/DMS