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Philippines
Sunday, January 19, 2025
25.5 C
Philippines
Sunday, January 19, 2025

Grand scale

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes and 10 seconds
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THE Justice Department has filed charges of violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act against 30 members of the Philippine National Police. The cops, of varying ranks, took part in an Oct.  2022 incident involving the seizure of drugs in Tondo, Manila. Some 990 kilograms of shabu were found, with a value of P6.7 billion.

The Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, Jonvic Remulla, has deemed it a “grand conspiracy to cover up a criminal enterprise.”

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Official police narratives were found to be glaringly inconsistent with CCTV footage and other evidence, establishing the occurrence of staged arrests and other irregularities. Video evidence also shows several cops loading luggages – presumed to contain drugs – into vehicles to be taken from the an office.

The effort and care taken by the police officers to conceal what truly happened with the drugs could have been taken from a movie plot about corruption in the highest, most sensitive places.

Remulla says the scheme shows the lengths to which the previous administration has established the rewards system in its so-called war against drugs. He adds that structural reforms in the PNP have to be legislated, because the current structure allows for loopholes that could be exploited by those adept at gaming the system.

Meanwhile, the public has no idea whether the October 2022 coverup is all there is to know, or whether there are other incidents that remain conveniently hidden from public scrutiny. After all, the people had no idea that irregularities surrounded that particular incident until Interior and Justice officials themselves brought them to light.

This is not to say we are shocked or surprised.

Revelations during last year’s congressional hearings on the drug war left us with the sobering thought that there could be more to our police officers than their public faces. Entrenched practices within the organization and an unwritten rule on camaraderie, as well as financial rewards, could make one forget one’s vow.

But it is true, as well, that for every one cop steeped in illegal activity and questionable conduct, there are dozens more who love their jobs and their country, and who live by their mandate to protect the citizenry against criminal elements. They are the reason why those who tarnish the reputation of the police force must be made to account for their deeds.

That people are no longer shocked is an indication of the scale of wrongdoing and impunity with which these acts have been committed for so long. Action on erring cops and on the systems that allow and perpetrate these wrongs is long overdue.

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