"These give Duterte critics something to harp on."
"These give Duterte critics something to harp on."
The illegal drug menace has for decades gripped the world, like a pandemic for which no vaccine has been discovered. Our country has not been spared.
With just two years left in office, anti-crime, anti-illegal drugs, anti-terrorism efforts remain the focus of President Duterte’s agenda. He articulated this in his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA).
It is just frustrating that recurring abuses committed by Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel continue to undermine the Duterte government’s war against illegal drugs which seemed doomed from the very start.
Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo was killed right inside Camp Crame in October 2016 after his kidnappers demanded an P8 million ransom from his wife who sought help from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
The kidnappers turned out to be policemen, namely P/Supt. Rafael Dumlao, P/Sgt. Ricky Sta. Isabel, and a civilian, one Jerry Omlang. Other cops might have been involved.
Then PNP Chief turned-senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa described it as the lowest point of his police career.
Now four years later, while the government grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, trying to save lives in the worst pandemic in human history, the pattern of police abuses manifests the lingering culture of impunity in PNP.
The latest one to hog the headlines is the report on 11 policemen of the San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, facing charges for kidnapping with murder for the abduction, detention over fabricated drug cases of six men.
In the report of its findings to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended the filing of multiple charges against a police major, five sergeants, four corporals and one patrolman.
They also face charges for planting evidence, including shabu and one .38 caliber homemade gun and one improvised shotgun.
In what appears to be a classic case of extra-judicial killings (EJK), victims Erwin Mergal and Joshua Cordero were randomly apprehended and hauled into a van with four other young men, and then hogtied and detained at the police station.
Mergal and Cordero were shot to death by the policemen shortly after midnight last February 18 in a secluded area in Barangay Gaya-Gaya.
We have trust and confidence in Secretary Guevarra’s leadership in DOJ that justice will be served.
This developed as the sensational EJK case of Kian delos Santos was commemorated last Sunday.
Young delos Santos was shot to death, mistaken for a drug suspect by two policemen on August 16, 2017 while the unarmed 17-year old pleaded to be spared as he had to go to school the following day.
Also, recently, Secretary Guevarra ordered the filing of murder charges against nine policemen from Jolo, Sulu, for the massacre of four Philippine Army intelligence agents in pursuit of a notorious bomb expert of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group and two companions.
The NBI investigation belied the policemen’s earlier claim of a “misencounter” with the military agents who yielded unarmed when they were intercepted at a checkpoint while hot on trail of the terrorists.
Not too long ago, a retired Army soldier, Winston Ragos, was shot to death in Quezon City by an overzealous police sergeant manning a checkpoint after the unarmed Ragos walked past him, hurling invectives. Ragos turned out to be suffering from mental disorder caused by his war exploits against the communist New People’s Army.
These police abuses merely give Duterte critics something to harp on, particularly on the issue of the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Law, which they claim is susceptible to abuse.
It looks like PNP Chief Archie Gamboa will have his hands full until the end of his tenure on September 2, 2020 after inheriting a demoralized PNP beset by the scandal on “Ninja Cops” that led to the early retirement of former PNP Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde.
When will these police abuses stop?