EDITORIAL — Cleaning up the PNP

There are two promising developments in the campaign to stop the murders of militant activists and members of mass media. One is that the killing of television cameraman Ralph Ruñez appears to have been solved with the arrest of all those involved. Another is that the Philippine National Police went after its own and arrested two officers, Inspector Bryan Limbo and Police Officer 3 Aristotle de Guzman, for the murder.

The arrest of the two cops, however, is yet another reminder of the rot in the PNP. Ruñez was murdered in front of his home in Caloocan – the city where the two police suspects are assigned. Investigators said the two are coddlers of a robbery gang and had planned to rob Ruñez. The victim had just withdrawn P35,000 from a bank when he was attacked. If cops themselves are behind robberies, operating in their areas of assignment, how can the public trust the police? When people are being gunned down by cops for P35,000, the reluctance of murder victims’ relatives to cooperate with investigators is understandable.

But the arrest of Limbo and De Guzman together with a civilian accomplice, Mani Magnayon, is an encouraging sign that there are serious efforts to clean up the PNP. Let’s hope the efforts will continue beyond the 10-week deadline imposed by President Arroyo for the PNP to solve some of the killings of journalists and activists. Honest cops should stop allowing rotten eggs to keep tarnishing their organization. Yesterday authorities also announced the arrest of the suspect in the murder of tabloid photographer Dick Melendres in Malabon.

Giving justice to crime victims and ending the killing spree should not stop at the apprehension of suspects. They must be prosecuted, convicted, sent to prison and not be allowed to escape. The only way to stop the rash of killings is by punishing the perpetrators and showing that in this country, murder is not sanctioned by the state and crime does not pay.