Camp Crame
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Camp General Rafael T. Crame | |
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Kampo Heneral Rafael T. Crame | |
![]() The facade of the Main Office Building of the Philippine National Police Headquarters at the camp. | |
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General information | |
Town or city | Quezon City |
Country | Philippines |
Current tenants | Philippine National Police |
Named for | Rafael Cramé |
Camp General Rafael T. Crame (Tagalog: [ˈkramɛ]) is the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) located along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Quezon City. Formerly the national headquarters of the Philippine Constabulary, Camp Crame is across EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo, the national headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
It was named after the first Filipino Chief of the Philippine Constabulary, Brigadier General Rafael Cramé.
History[edit]
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As early as the 1930s, military facilities were set up in Quezon City, among them Camp Murphy (now Camp Aguinaldo) and Camp Crame. Named after the first Filipino brigadier general of the Philippine Constabulary (PC), Rafael Crame (a grandson[1] of Don Joaquín Rafael de Crame, Governor-General of the Philippines in 1835), the camp was where the General Strike Force of the PC was organized under Brig. Gen. Guillermo Francisco in 1939. Camp Crame had been used as the headquarters of the Philippine Constabulary, which service command was then considered part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
A major detention area during the Marcos regime, Camp Crame became one of the rallying points of people during the EDSA Revolution of 1986.
Today, the camp serves as the headquarters of the Philippine National Police, the force established in 1991 as an entity separate from the AFP; despite the separation, however, the titles to the land on which Camp Crame stands were turned over to the PNP by the AFP only in July 2008.
The camp is currently undergoing renovation, starting with the renovation of the PNP Multipurpose Hall and the camp's swimming pool. There are also plans for the construction of a multi-storey building along the EDSA side of the camp to house the administrative offices of the PNP, as well as commercial establishments for the general public.
Camp Crame host the PNP Custodial Center which serves as a detainment facility for high profile suspects.[2] Several high-profile personalities have been detained at Camp Crame in recent years, among them deposed President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. The ongoing trial for the Maguindanao Massacre is also held in a courtroom inside the camp, where primary suspect Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is being detained. Australian Muslim preacher Musa Cerantonio was held here at one point during his deportation from the Philippines.[3] As of March 2017, Senator Leila de Lima, former chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, was being held here, charged with allegedly taking bribes from drug dealers.[4]
In April 2011, the post was recognized by the National Historical Commission; a marker was placed on the facility with the presence of former President Fidel Ramos.
References[edit]
- ^ "Rafael Crame".
- ^ Ramos, Marlon (15 May 2014). "Police free up Crame jail for 'VIP' prisoners". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "'He's no terrorist. He's a preacher who blogs'". 13 July 2014.
- ^ Felipe Villamor, "Imprisoned and Fearful, Duterte Critic Speaks Out", New York Times, March 25, 2017, p. A8.
Coordinates: 14°36′32.86″N 121°3′11.57″E / 14.6091278°N 121.0532139°E