PLTGEN Jose Melencio “Tateng” Nartatez Jr., now positioning himself for the post of Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has built a career steeped in corruption, protection rackets, illicit wealth accumulation, and deep political entanglements. His record shows a pattern of exploiting every key posting for personal gain — including jueteng protection, smuggling syndicates, illegal gambling, drug coddling, and laundering dirty money into political campaigns.
As Regional Director of PRO4A (Calabarzon) from 2022 to 2023, Nartatez presided over one of the largest vice protection empires ever seen in the region. He allowed illegal jueteng operations to flourish in Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Quezon, and Rizal, collecting an estimated ₱1.5 million per week in protection money. He likewise protected perya gambling operations, earning an additional ₱75,000 weekly. Illegal cockfighting, or larong lupa, netted his group ₱400,000 every fifteen days, while rice smuggling activities in southern Luzon funneled at least ₱600,000 a week to his office. Gasoline smuggling rackets (“paihi”) contributed ₱2 million per month.
These illicit operations were coordinated and collected primarily by Colonel Melvin Montante, then Chief of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID). Montante’s team also facilitated the recycling of seized drugs and contraband, earning even more revenue for Nartatez’s inner circle.
Aside from Montante, Colonel Edwin Quilates, operating mainly out of Batangas, served as another conduit, focusing on drug and gambling protection rackets extending even into Pangasinan, aided by his operative, PSSG Alexander Bayle. Quilates’ operations thrived despite the pandemic, strongly suggesting that drug money had replaced gambling as a principal revenue source.
While Provincial Director of Ilocos Norte Police earlier from 2016 to 2019, Nartatez orchestrated weekly payoffs amounting to ₱300,000 from jueteng and ₱75,000 from perya gambling operators. The collections were managed by Colonel Randy Beniat, and a large portion of these illicit funds was later funneled into a ₱10 million campaign contribution to Senator Imee Marcos. This payoff secured for Nartatez valuable political protection and fast-tracked his promotions within the PNP hierarchy.
Upon his appointment as NCRPO Chief in 2023, Nartatez merely expanded his criminal enterprise. Collections skyrocketed: illegal gambling operations across Metro Manila yielded at least ₱2.5 million per week. Larong lupa added another ₱300,000 per week, fuel smuggling operations in Manila Port contributed ₱500,000 weekly, and illicit vendors and illegal parking syndicates fed an additional ₱400,000 every week into the protection racket. Smuggled rice from Navotas brought in ₱600,000 monthly, while dollar black market syndicates in Binondo delivered ₱1 million per month to his team.
Most striking was the control he exerted over POGO operations. Each POGO operator under his “protection” paid ₱3 million per month. In addition, prostitution syndicates, largely based in Makati and Pasay, paid ₱200,000 monthly to avoid police raids.
This brazen corruption exploded into public scandal after the Centrium Tower operation on August 22, 2024, where Chinese nationals linked to online fraud syndicates were arrested. While NCRPO units publicly reported seizing cash and vehicles, at least ₱75 million in cash disappeared from the evidence inventory, and seven Toyota Alphard vehicles were appropriated — two by Nartatez himself, one by Col. Mendez, and the rest distributed among favored operatives. Investigations by the Ombudsman into this brazen theft are ongoing.
Earlier, Nartatez had already been implicated in a series of palit-ulo operations, whereby relatives of targets were illegally arrested and held hostage to pressure primary targets into surrendering or paying protection money. Cases of fabricated evidence, asset seizures, and selective law enforcement riddled his tenure both in PRO4A and NCRPO.
Nartatez also funneled dirty money into political patronage. His ₱10 million donation to Senator Imee Marcos during her senatorial campaign bought him not just immunity but political patronage, ensuring that his corrupt network would be protected and expanded under the Marcos administration’s watch.
Aside from gambling, smuggling, and prostitution, there is also significant intelligence that implicates Nartatez in drug protection schemes. Although he publicly championed drug war efforts, insiders confirm that syndicates who paid protection fees operated freely under his tenure, particularly in Batangas and parts of Laguna.
Adding to the damning record, Nartatez financed luxurious foreign trips — including junkets to Macau, Las Vegas, and Europe — using money provided by “Camp Crame financiers” and gambling lords. His undeclared wealth is immense: multimillion-peso properties, luxury vehicles registered under dummies, and offshore accounts in Hong Kong and Switzerland have been traced to him through multiple confidential investigations.
Ultimately, PLTGEN Jose Melencio “Tateng” Nartatez Jr.'s career paints a picture of a police officer who systematically monetized vice, compromised public trust, laundered dirty money into politics, and seeks now to consolidate all these networks under the full authority of the PNP if installed as Chief.
His ascension would not simply perpetuate corruption — it would institutionalize it.
PS
This high ranking pnp official was accused of raping the daughter if a junior officer following a drinking spree. But the matter was kept under wraps due to the timely intervention of fellow officers. This incident is an open secret and is known all over camp crame.