*Dr. Rodolfo John Ortiz Teope, PhD, EdD, DM
The solution to crime is a long and painstaking process. As long as we fail to close the faucet of crime, it will continue to flow—on our streets, in our communities, in our cities, and even within our government.
Crime persists because only a few people actually control it—those who organize it, the ones behind what we call organized crime. Unless we close the faucet operated by these organized criminal syndicates that run and spread criminality in our society, crime will never stop.
You may arrest many addicts, pushers, or killers, but as long as the faucet remains open—unchecked and unclosed—crime will continue to flow endlessly. Crime in drugs, crime in kidnap-for-ransom, and even crime in corruption.
We must shut off that faucet—and that is now the task entrusted to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
When we speak of organized crime, this is not ordinary crime. It is systemic; it is the faucet that spreads the “water” of crime throughout our society. These are the people at the top—the ones who control those below, who execute and multiply criminal activity.
Organized crime is very difficult to combat, and this is now the mandate of the new Executive Director of the PAOCC, former PNP Chief General Benjamin Acorda Jr. Fighting organized crime, organized syndicates, and organized networks of corruption demands dedication and unity.
To succeed, General Acorda will need the full support of all government agencies under the Commission — the PNP, NBI, PDEA, and others that comprise the PAOCC.
My friends, if you can close the faucet of supply, then no matter how many users there are, they will have nothing to buy if no one can sell. If General Acorda and his team can capture and dismantle the syndicates spreading this criminal trade, that would dry up the flow of crime at its source.
You might ask, “But the PDEA and the PNP already exist—why do we still need the PAOCC?”
The answer is simple: because of the magnitude and complexity of the problem, the government needs an agency specifically focused on organized crime. The PAOCC is not a competitor to existing agencies—it is a unifying body that brings them together to jointly address the roots of criminal syndicates.
Through shared intelligence, joint operations, and synchronized enforcement, these agencies will cooperate to close the faucet of crime in our society.
This includes not only drug crimes but also murder, rape, financial crimes, illegal recruitment, and environmental offenses. Many people think crime is only what happens on the streets, but there are also white-collar crimes—election manipulation, presidential appointments for sale, government transaction fixing, game-fixing in sports betting, pyramiding scams, citizenship for sale, money laundering, business fraud, environmental destruction, illegal gambling, and eco-terrorism—that also bleed the nation.
While the police and other agencies continue to fight crime through education, patrol, and arrests, the PAOCC must focus on the organized roots of these problems—the pipelines of power, profit, and corruption that sustain them.
Thus, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission carries an immense responsibility to help the country. If we, the people, support this mission—if we provide PAOCC with the resources, attention, and cooperation it needs—then perhaps we can finally close those faucets of crime.
And when that
day comes, we may finally see a Philippines where the flow of criminality has
been stopped at its very source—where crime no longer runs freely in our nation
because its faucet has at last been shut tight.
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