You betrayed our trust

We fed you, We gave you a place to stay, We clothe you, We provided you mentors and instructors, We gave you a job, We gave you our trust and We placed our lives and property in your hands. Then you betrayed us. This is the message that rogue cops as well as the leadership of the entire PNP needs to hear.

When police officers become criminals it is not a simple matter of cops gone bad, leadership gone astray or a misfit committing a crime. When police officers turn against citizens they become the worst of traitors, it is worse than qualified theft or abuse of authority. We cannot treat this growing number of incidents as isolated cases or a small minority of criminals from within. These cases involving rogue cops are the end result or end product of an entire system and organization that has long been defective and in need of serious review. It is far more serious than DAF, PDAF or overpriced buildings. Our lives, safety, property, law and order are threatened.

In their defense, PNP officials say these are just isolated cases. No sir, they are nationwide. Under the P-Noy administration, our first crisis with a rogue cop resulted in the Luneta Massacre. Then there was the Atimonan massacre were 13 people were shot dead with “excessive use of force and extreme prejudice” by a blocking force led by a high-ranking cop. As a result 2 police officers and 3 soldiers were among those murdered in cold blood. Last week, a cop killed teachers who couldn’t pay his loan shark boss. The Korean community has been complaining about being singled out for extortion by cops. The killings, the Hulidaps, the rapes, the involvement of police officers in drug related cases, extortions and rubouts have not stopped under the PNoy administration.

Don’t tell the people these are isolated cases when the cases are being cited and recited on radio and TV. Don’t tell the public these are just a few bad eggs especially when rotten things kept stinking up the PNP image for a whole week if not two, almost on a daily basis. Telling the public these are just isolated cases is an insult to their intelligence and an act of insensitivity, disrespect and disregard for their fears and frustration.  

*      *      *

Aside from being dismissive, some officials tried to parry the damage to the institution by suggesting that the rogue cops were young, poorly trained or poorly selected individuals who would not have made it as cops if the PNP had control and supervision for the training of police cadets. This is a classic example where after denying the fact, they then blame it all on someone or something other than themselves. As one observer put it, if the police cannot “police their ranks” how can we expect them to be our police against criminals.

Ironically it was only after so many rogue cops got caught and exposed for criminal act that we ever heard the PNP acknowledging rotten eggs in the PNP and their long pending request in Congress to regain control of the selection and training of police cadets. If this was such a serious matter with such serious consequences, why didn’t the PNP Chief go straight to his “Kabarilan” in Malacañang named P-Noy to stamp their request as URGENT? Why didn’t General Purisima enlist the help of his fellow PMAers and former PNP officials who are now members of Congress to move their lazy butts and legislate the return of control?

As of this week, I’ve heard of 10 cops from one police precinct in Manila and an almost equal number of policemen detailed at a La Loma precinct are being investigated for their possible involvement in “Hulidap” or extortion. They hold various ranks, different ages but all under one roof. That is not about poor training, schooling or youth. That’s organized crime.

Yes, that is the operative word that now needs to be addressed: “Organized Crime.” Given its size, how spread out it is as an organization, how politically sensitive and manipulated it is and the fact that there are so many rivalries in terms of academic background, organizations, religions, cults, and political patrons, it is clear that the PNP is organizationally fractured if not dismembered, a situation made worse by weak leadership and a visible jockeying for position in anticipation of the retirement of the Chief PNP next year. Such conditions are ideal for the corrupt and the criminal within, to build up their own turfs, which seems to be the case.

When policemen bring their innocent victims to police headquarters or precinct, they are showing their utter confidence and impunity. They commit their criminal act in public, in the presence of presumably innocent and ignorant fellow policemen and officers. In other words they have No Fear!  When sex workers, petty drug dealers and run of the mill criminals are the only ones getting caught, while big time pimps, international drug traffickers and professional hitmen drive away without fear, it makes you wonder how that is possible in a country where insiders know that the PNP can find and can grab when they want to.

Given how divided and subdivided the PNP has become in real terms, perhaps it is time to revisit the law and the organization that we call the Philippine National Police. Perhaps it is time to break up the cartel, the cults and brotherhoods in law enforcement and rationalize the structure into one that can be better managed, better funded, and will have greater accountability to the people and not their officials at the general headquarters. We want the PNP to Serve and Protect the people, not themselves.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]