The country is familiar with presidents coddling chiefs of the Philippine National Police even when they become involved in controversies that call into question their integrity, competence and ascendancy.
During the previous administration, President Benigno Aquino III continued to rely on the counsel of his friend, PNP chief Alan Purisima, even as the latter had been ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for an anomalous transaction.
Purisima supposedly signed a questionable deal with a courier for the delivery of firearms license cards without proper accreditation. At that time, the PNP chief was also fending off accusations he had amassed wealth illegally.
Aquino’s continued reliance on Purisima had fatal consequences. He provided consultancy services for a sensitive police operation we now know as the Mamasapano massacre. Forty-four members of the Special Action Force of the police were left to die in the lair of the Muslim rebels after trying to serve a warrant on terrorists.
Through it all, Mr. Aquino never held his friend accountable for what happened; nor did he accept any responsibility for his allowing a suspended officer to direct a crucial operation.
It’s a different administration and we now have a leader who promises to bring about change—but why are things uncannily the same?
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday announced that his PNP chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa, continues to enjoy his complete trust and confidence amid the backlash of the killing of a Korean right inside Camp Crame. The death of Jee Ick Joo, reportedly strangled by cops in October, gave rise to calls for Dela Rosa’s resignation. Some of the calls came from even the President’s staunchest allies.
The PNP chief has refused to step down and instead criticized those calling for his resignation. At his birthday party, he got a fairly good present—the President’s announcement that he was standing by him.
Instead of firing him, the President said, he instructed Dela Rosa to go after rogue cops who give a bad name to the police force.
Dela Rosa is quite a character. Since his appointment middle of last year, his words and his demeanor have attracted the attention of Filipinos—mostly in a good way. He projected himself as a top cop who connected well with the people and did not have qualms showing his emotion. Over the holidays, he dressed up as Santa Claus and distributed toys to children. This capital allowed the public to brush aside the fact that he was in Las Vegas watching a boxing match while a suspected drug lord was murdered in a Leyte jail.
But no, he stayed on, and despite a brush off from the president who reinstated a provincial cop Dela Rosa relieved for his involvement in the Leyte killing.
Not that we are used to officials taking their honor seriously and giving up their posts in shame when they fail to perform or figure in some scandal.
We wonder, then, what further message is Mr. Duterte sending to the nation by saying he still trusts and is confident in Dela Rosa, who by his failure in leadership has failed to perform his sworn duty to protect the people.