EDITORIAL - Soldiers, kidnappers

Members of the uniformed services should not wonder why they are suffering from an image problem. This week police arrested two soldiers for the abduction of three children. Army Sergeants Joselim Arnuco of the 3rd Infantry Division and Virgilio Corpuz of the Civil Affairs Group at Fort Bonifacio were apprehended together with four suspects for the kidnapping of 13-year-old Mark Giga and his siblings Michael John, 14, Manuel Joseph, 10, and Princess Marian, 8.

Reports said the kidnappers had demanded a P50-million ransom from the children’s father, Japanese Seizebburo Giga and his Filipina wife Hilda Cruz, but later agreed to whittle the amount down to P300,000. The children were kidnapped Sept. 26 and released the same day in San Mateo, Rizal.

Arnuco and Corpuz are not the first soldiers to be implicated in ransom kidnappings. And they are hardly the first to be linked to criminal activities. In almost all major crimes, particularly those involving profit such as bank robberies and carjackings, members of the uniformed services have been implicated. You can’t blame the public for believing that behind every major criminal organization is a soldier or cop. It has not helped that Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former constabulary officer and national police chief, is under investigation not just for allegedly laundering drug money but also for multiple murder and kidnapping. Even members of the National Bureau of Investigation have been linked to criminal syndicates.

These developments should once again remind the military and law enforcement agencies that there are scalawags to be purged from their ranks. Members of the Filipino-Chinese community as well as crime watchdogs have also complained that certain police officers in the active service are involved in kidnapping and other criminal activities. The administration must look into these complaints and undertake a major purge. Public cooperation is crucial to restore peace and order. Before they can regain the people’s trust, however, the military and police must clean up their act.