WE ARE buoyed up by the recent statement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the crackdown by law enforcers on crimes and other illegal activities has been “effective and lawful.”
The President made the statement during the 123rd police jubilee in Camp Crame where he said law enforcement under his administration are bloodless and humane, stressing the clampdown on illegal drugs, human trafficking and criminality has been strengthened in ways that are legal.
In a previous speech, the President said his administration’s crackdown on drugs involves rehabilitation, reintegration and preventive education programs since enforcement “only gets you so far.”
During his third State of the Nation Address last month, he said more than P44 billion worth of illegal drugs have since been seized and 97,000 drug personalities arrested under his “bloodless war” on dangerous drugs, highlighting the accomplishments were achieved without resorting to “extermination.”
The predecessor administration of Rodrigo Duterte was in his time criticized at home and overseas by human rights entities for what they described as bloody campaign against illegal drugs.
Since taking office on June 30, 2016, Duterte carried out a “war on drugs” that led to the deaths of at least more than 12,000 Filipinos, mostly urban poor.
At least 2,555 of the killings were attributed to the Philippine National Police.
Official government figures put that number at nearly 6,000, with human rights organizations claiming more than 20,000 killed since 2016, largely by the country’s security forces.
It is encouraging that under the leadership of General Rommel Marbil, the police force has taken aggressive steps towards sustaining the gains of law and order.
The PNP has as well intensified its patrol operations and increased police deployment, and the President noted this contributed to a notable drop in crime rates, particularly in crime-prone areas.
We are with the President in raising the bar of trust the PNP will sustain their current initiatives and look after the people’s increasing confidence in the law enforcers’ abilities.
But more than lending an ear to the President, the police – the officials and those in the rank and file – must carry in their uniforms and undershirts the discipline, the transparency and fairness, with the President’s injunction the erring and the corrupt will be slapped with appropriate sanctions.
