Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. ordered all police chiefs and unit commanders Wednesday to regularly update wanted lists down to the municipal and city levels as part of an intensified campaign against fugitives.

Nartatez reminded commanders that police stations must maintain monthly operational targets against wanted persons within their areas of responsibility, prioritizing their top 10 most wanted lists.

Several police stations have established monthly goals to account for everyone on their top 10 lists while conducting regular reviews of court-issued arrest warrants to verify local addresses.

“Each wanted person arrested does not only bring justice to the victims,” Nartatez said. “In most cases, it also serves as a crime prevention measure since some of them were found to be repeat offenders.”

According to the PNP’s Crime Information, Reporting and Analysis System, approximately 500,000 fugitives across the country are currently subject to court arrest warrants.

While some warrants date back several years and certain wanted individuals have already died, Nartatez called for an intensified effort to track down every fugitive.

“No matter how old the warrant of arrest is, let us bear in mind that there are victims who still hope that justice would be served,” Nartatez said in Tagalog. “Let us not fail them by focusing on this particular mandate of the PNP.”