.jpg "a49a0_eleazar(1)"){kind=small}
Between National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Guillermo Eleazar and the extortionist cop, the former is a “no-brainer choice of a hero,” according to Senator Panfilo Lacson as he defended the NRCPO chief’s outbursts.
“Yes, I understand his frustration and why he displayed such anger, having gone through the same experience almost 20 years ago,” said Lacson, who served as chief of the Philippine National Police.
Eleazar was roundly criticized after he was seen grabbing the hair of Police Corporal Marlo Quibete of the Eastern Police District drug enforcement unit, who was arrested for extortion in an entrapment operation in Pasig City on Wednesday.
The police official forced Quibete to show his face to the media. He then grabbed his collar and continued to admonish him.
Quibete reportedly extorted P200,000 from the family of a drug suspect whom they arrested.
Lacson recalled an incident sometime in November 1999 right after he assumed the top police position.
“Deja vu. In November 1999, on my first night as CPNP, I hit the ground running with my anti-kotong campaign and there was this CHPG team who shot it out with a team of Special Action Force personnel whom I tasked to kickstart a relentless operation against mulcting policemen,” Lacson said.
He said that the shootout resulted in the killing of an SAF operative while three others were wounded.
“After I visited the wounded in the hospital, I proceeded to the police station where the kotong cops were detained after being arrested. In anger, I wanted to shoot them myself,” recalled Lacson.
“I remember doing almost the same ritual that P/Maj General Eleazar did,” he added.
Senator Win Gatchalian, for his part, said that while police should practice maximum tolerance, he also acknowledge that there are some policemen who continue to taint the image of the government.
“If you remember, the palit puri pag may nahuli drug suspects, rape yung anak, kamag anak, nangyari yun, nangyayari ngayon,” he said.
Gatchalian, however, said Eleazar could have lost his temper because of what the policeman did.
“I can’t blame him because there are many scalawags at that point in time. His frustrations came out, but as a whole we as public servant should always observe maximum tolerance,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier took the cudgels for Eleazar, saying that the police official did the right thing since there are still police officers who are involved in irregularities.
Eleazar has apologized for his outburst but insisted that what he did was right because police officers should not be “treated as babies”.
“Humihingi ako ng paumanhin kung ‘di ako nakapagtimpi at nailabas ang aking emosyon,” Eleazar said.
“Kinwelyuhan ko, tiningala ko ang mukha, at dinuro-duro ko. Eh dapat lang,” he added.
Still, Eleazar’s actions did not escape criticism from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), who said that the NCRPO police chief may have violated Quibete’s human rights.
“Maaaring may na-violate siya doon sa right to dignity, right to presumption of innocence, right to humane treatment and all that. Iyan ’yung mga posibleng karapatang pantao na nalabag,” said CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia in a radio interview.
De Guia’s statement, however, did not sit well with the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), who slammed the CHR for defending a rogue cop, while disregarding the rights of his victim.
“CHR has no human side. The General is just passionate in cleansing their ranks of scalawags as the public is crying for total cleansing,” VACC spokesperson Boy Evangelista said in a text message.
“Nasaan ’yung human rights ng mga biktima? Some are already six feet below the ground,” he added.
Quibete faces criminal charges for robbery and extortion and is detained in Camp Bagong Diwa after his arrest Tuesday. He is also facing administrative cases for grave misconduct.
Meanwhile, aside from the president, Eleazar also drew support from Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and his immediate superior, Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde.
Meanwhile, the police arrested another rogue cop, this time for alleged drug peddling while he was caught sniffing shabu at an apartment in Manila.
Elements of the NCRPO and the Manila Police District (MPD) Station 4 caught patrolman Ferdinand Rafael, who was assigned at MPD Administration Holding Unit, sniffing the prohibited substance inside apartment Room B356 at the corner of Calabasita and Calabash Streets in Barangay 539 Zone 53, District 4 in Sampaloc around 11 p.m. last Thursday.
Rafael is now detained at the NCRPO Regional Special Operations Unit detention facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Bicutan, Taguig City and will be charged with violation of sections 5, 11, 12, 14 and 15 of Republic Act 9165 (Dangerous Drugs Act).
The authorities were tipped off by concerned residents, who said that the suspect was frequently visiting the said apartment to peddle illegal drugs.
The NCRPO and the Manila police immediately conducted surveillance operations on Rafael who was discovered to be an active policeman assigned at the MPD. The police operatives then set a buy-bust operation against the suspect.
The authorities also secured a video footage showing Rafael while in the act of sniffing shabu.
Recovered from the suspect’s possession were 15 grams or 11 pieces of small heat-sealed sachet of shabu worth P102,000; a digital weighing scale; assorted drug paraphernalia and the P1,000 buy bust money.
Rafael was the second Manila policeman caught in the act of sniffing the illegal substance.
Late last year, Police Officer 1 Redentor Bautista, assigned at the Manila Police District Station 1 and a a resident of Tondo, Manila, was caught sniffing cocaine at the restroom of a posh bar in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.
This prompted Metro Manila police director Guillermo Eleazar to order all police commanders in the NCR to subject their personnel under drug examination as part of the internal cleansing to get rid of scalawags.
“In light of the discovery and arrest of a policeman sniffing cocaine in Taguig City, [I] issued a directive to all Police District Directors to intensify their random drug testing programs for their rank-and-file [personnel],” said Eleazar in his directive to police commanders of Manila Police District, Quezon City Police District, Northern Police District, Eastern Police District and Southern Police District.
Dismissal from the service awaits those who will be tested positive for drug use.
Eleazar reiterated that he we will not tolerate any scalawag or abuse by any police officer.
The NCRPO earlier ordered the relief of 44 policemen, two of them police commanders in Pasay and EPD, following their alleged involvement of two drug enforcement officers in kidnapping and extortion.
Eleazar reminded police commanders to always ensure that their personnel are performing accordingly based on its mandated duties and responsibilities. He firmly stated that the “performance of their personnel will reflect on their leadership and so proper guidance is a must.”
“The internal cleansing program of the PNP is being carried out on a nationwide scale and the PNP leadership is determined to implement this until all the laggards and the undesirables are weed out and made to face sanctions,” he said.
According to PNP spokesman Col. Bernard Banac, some 8,440 erring police officers were slapped with administrative sanctions since 2016 under the PNP’s internal cleansing program.
Banac said that from January 2016 to February 28, 2019, a total of 2,528 policemen were dismissed from the service, 4,511 were suspended from their work, 601 were reprimanded, 507 were demoted in rank, 34 were placed in restriction, and 58 had their privileges withheld.
Banac said this is proof that the PNP is serious in weeding out rogue cops from their roster.
“We are the ones who are implementing laws against illegal drugs and then we see police officers actually involved in illegal drugs. That’s not allowed because that is embarrassing for the PNP,” he told reporters.
Banac made the assurance that these police officers were given due process in their cases.
Of the 2,528 dismissed police officers, 441 were involved in illegal drug activities; 322 tested positive for illegal drugs; while 119 others were involved in illegal drug-related cases, such as being a protector or user.
The 119 involved in illegal drug activities were pinpointed by arrested drug personalities while some were caught in the act.
Despite a strict selection process, aspiring policemen who do dirty deeds could still be qualified during recruitment, Banac said.
“We are strict in the process of recruitment but it cannot be denied that there are recruits who can pass the interview and neuropsychiatric test. When it comes to the service, they can be exposed to biting the temptation, in which we can see the weakness of their values and character,” he said.
Banac said the PNP is doing everything to change the negative mindset or behavior of police scalawags through counseling, leadership seminars, and Bible studies, among others.
Albayalde has warned all police personnel that he would never tolerate illegal acts or wrongdoings committed by anyone within their ranks.
“When a recruit takes his oath as a professional police officer, he automatically loses or waives some of his rights in favor of organizational discipline, duties, and responsibilities. So, being scolded, reprimanded, bawled out, or dressed down for misdemeanor, misconduct or commission of crime is just part and parcel of his life being in the uniformed service,” Albayalde said in a statement.
He also reiterated that the PNP is serious in enforcing a culture change and character transformation among police officers.
“We continue to ask for the media’s help because this way, we can emphasize that we are true and serious in our drive in wiping out scalawags within our ranks,” Albayalde said in Filipino.
“This is a stern warning to all PNP personnel. We will be adding more teeth to our campaign against those rogues and scalawags among our ranks. We will not hesitate to relieve any official from their posts should any incident like this extortion and robbery case would happen again,” he added.
Albayalde earlier said that newly-recruited police officers would undergo Special Action Forces training as a way of disciplining them. With PNA