It is hard enough to go after hardened criminals and organized crime syndicates, but it is doubly difficult to pursue colleagues in uniform who are accused of perpetrating crimes against the public they are supposed to serve.

This is what PO3 Melchor does, however, and he is one of the best in promoting and actually facilitating the evolution of an even more professional, highly disciplined national police force. In addition to the dayto-day demands of tracking down and neutralizing lawless elements such as robbery and gun-for-hire suspects – at least a couple of whom have been tagged in the murder of local chief executives in two municipalities in Pangasinan among them Agno mayor Arthur Cabantac in 2008– PO3 Melchor also acts with dispatch in investigating complaints against fellow PNP personnel.

While he beams with satisfaction for every criminal he is able to put behind bars, he is also proud to have contributed to the weeding out of scalawags and other misfits in the PNP. On the other hand, he has also been instrumental in the implementation of re-training and other career development courses for eligible and deserving members of the police organization in the province.

As part of his effort to make the police accessible to the community, PO3 Melchor initiated the Text 2920 project, which immediately helped generate valuable information on crime incidence on the ground.

One of the youngest officers to attain the rank of Police Superintendent, P/Supt. Jonathan G. Calixto, is a passionate man with a mission. At 36 years old, he is the youngest Battalion Commander in PNP’s Special Action Force.

His bravery and derring-do has earned him 38 awards and commendations in just over a decade of service, including being one of the Top 10 Country’s Outstanding Policemen in Service (COPS) this year. He has also organize nine bloodletting missions and leads a variety of other police community outreach programs, such as tree-planting and clean and green projects as well as the donation of school supplies. He also works with the Rotary Club to help Gawad Kalinga in its housing projects.

As a top-notch police officer, he has figured in some of the most significant and high profile operations of the PNP as a Team Leader, Operations Officer, Commanding Officer and currently as a Battalion Commander of the elite Special Action Force.

Whether be it in Metro Manila, Cebu or Davao, P/Supt Carlos has proven to be the bane of drug traffickers operating in many parts of the country. A review of the PNP’s most successful campaigns against illegal drugs would inevitably turn up his name – and a sterling professional record that includes the dismantling of the Antipolo City Shabu Mega-Factory in 2003 and other major drug laboratories in Metro Manila, Mandaue City in Cebu and Davao City in Mindanao.

All these operations involved the confiscation of billions of pesos worth of drugs, chemicals and various drug-making paraphernalia and equipment, and the arrest of known members of big drug syndicates, among them Chinese nationals.

His excellent liaison work with other police agencies, not just with local bureaus like the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency but with international agencies like the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the Taiwan Police, as well as his outstanding intelligence work and coordination with local officials and community-level assets, have helped turn the tide of the battle against drugs in favor of law enforcement operatives.

Being the chief of the local police in his own hometown gives P/Supt Cruz an extra dose of inspiration to exert every effort to make Cabanatuan City one of the safest places on earth.