The secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government has ordered a lifestyle check on members of the Philippine National Police.
The objective is to identify and root out those who have amassed questionable wealth and who are living beyond their means. If they spend more than what their salaries at the police force afford them, the assumption is that they are engaged in illegal activities.
The check comes at a time when five police generals—three in active service and two who have retired—were named by President Rodrigo Duterte as protectors of those engaged in the illegal drug trade. The National Police Commission has begun its investigation on the three active generals, since relieved of their posts but who continue to insist they are innocent.
No doubt, the naming and shaming of the top cops—not just any cop—has had an effect on all members of the police force, whether or not they themselves are engaged in similar activities, drug-related or not.
Then again, the term “lifestyle check” is not entirely new. We have heard this many times before, ordered by higher officials to ensure that employees of a certain agency do not unduly enrich themselves by virtue of their office.
In our experience, however, such checks have not been anything more than knee-jerk reactions to controversies. They have often been announced in response to public indignation —more for immediate effect rather than a long-term transformation. After a while, when the collective attention has been trained on the next controversy, lifestyles go unchecked again. And the happy days continue.
Exactly in office for two weeks, President Duterte has shown extraordinary resolve in running after errant cops especially as they contribute to the public menaces of illegal drugs and crime. Will this continue for the rest of his term, until the PNP is rid of so-called bad eggs, or will this be, as was the case with his predecessors, good only as an initial shock-and-awe technique?
We welcome the lifestyle check on members of the police, and look forward to when it extends to other agencies and branches of government.
We will, moreover, watch out for how exactly this campaign will be different from the numerous times it had failed in the past. This difference will determine whether the lifestyle check would eventually stop because its objectives have been met, or whether it was a nice idea that sadly could not be sustained.
