MORE than 17,000 members of the Philippine National Police are into the illegal drug trade in the country, President Rodrigo Duterte said Friday.
In a taped interview, Duterte also sought help from the Church on how to reform alleged drug suspects, after sharing “state secrets” on the government’s anti-criminality drive.
“There are about 17,000 policemen in this country involved in drugs and they’re the ones operating, not the locals anymore. They knew they will be hit hard,” the President told state-run PTV-4.
The number of policemen into drugs represents more than 8 percent of the total police force, estimated at 194,410—but the President did not cite the basis for his claims.
Amid the government’s bloody drug war, which saw thousands killed since he took office last year, the President also claimed the crime rate saw a decline by “40 percent”—again without citing the basis of his pronouncements.
Meanwhile, Duterte also admitted Friday bribing officials in the Office of the Ombudsman to appeal for the dismissal of cases involving lower-ranking military and government officials, despite his rather harsh criticism on the supposed “corruption” activities in the agency.
Saying he used “personal money” on at least four occasions to bribe officials in the agency, Duterte said he did this to save the “career” of the officials who were subjected to dismissal proceedings.
All of the cases filed against his former police chiefs in Davao City were dismissed because of his apparent intervention, the President said.
Most of them faced raps due to deaths of suspects during police encounters, he added.
Duterte had threatened “arrest” against officials of the Office of the Ombudsman should they resist “summons” of the independent commission he said he would create next year to look after their alleged partiality and corruption in the agency, when they are supposed to go after grafters in government.
The President also slammed Senator Leila de Lima, herself a former Commission on Human Rights chairman who investigated him over the drug killings in his city—saying she could not prove anything against him.
Earlier this year, the Philippine National Police said the total crime volume across the country fell from 675,816 recorded incidents in 2015 to 584,809 in 2016.
Nearly one-fifth of the total crime volume in the entire year was categorized as “index crimes,” which numbered 139,462 for 2016 while “non-index crimes” made up the remaining 445,347 instances.
Following criticisms by the church on the government’s anti-drug campaign, Duterte said he showed to the members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines the list of suspected drug pushers and drug lords—and sought help on how to fix the drug problem.
Last Sept. 18, Duterte met with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, who got recently elected as president of the CBCP, the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic Church in the country.
He said he gave the CBCP a list of those involved in drugs…if you want to help, then read that.”
It was not clear, however, if Duterte gave them his “narco list,” his supposed list of officials from the judiciary, police, and local governments allegedly involved in the drug trade.
In the same interview, the President also expressed his willingness to talk with opposition Senator Franklin Drilon over the “organized” drug operations of his relative, Iloilo Mayor Jed Mabilog.
“I would like to invite him to join the police and military in a briefing,” he said.
Mabilog, a second cousin of Drilon, has been included in Duterte’s list of government officials allegedly involved in the drug trade.
Mabilog has already denied Duterte’s accusation, saying he finds it “very unfortunate and disconcerting.” He said then he was fearing for his and his family’s safety.