First, there was jueteng

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- Submitting one’s courtesy resignation could be one of the solutions in weeding out scalawags from the rows of the men and women in the PNP organization, especially those involved in the illegal drug problem. But will it make a dent in the police organization’s corruption problem?
    Bad police officials may be removed from the ranks of the 227,000-strong police force but considering the money circulating in the drug trade, they might operate just the same sans their blue uniform.
    Maybe DILG Sec. Benhur Abalos should first look into the causes why the police are being corrupted. Is it because the public and the rank-and-file policemen know that there are colonels and generals who are on the take from jueteng and illegal gambling before they got involved in the illegal drug trade?
    It must be recalled that then Sen. Ping Lacson stressed in so many instances the involvement of police generals, colonels and low-ranked cops in the multi-billion jueteng and illegal gambling activities which led to killings, shootouts and ambushes in the past.
    Sec. Abalos could get rid of these police officials involved in jueteng which could make it easier for him to convince others to stay away from illegal drugs. The police are easily corrupted when they know that their bosses are on the take. He should look into this.  
    Critics said the courtesy registration is a useless paper because it has no legal basis. But Police colonels and generals started filing their courtesy resignations last week, including PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, who was the first to comply with the appeal of DILG Sec. Abalos.
    In addition, the DILG is not vested with powers to organize a committee that would decide which resignations would be accepted based on an officer’s involvement in drugs. That would simply be a witch hunt.
    After submitting their courtesy resignations, the police officials go through the scrutiny of a five-man committee who will decide on who would be retained or dismissed. Those who will be dismissed of course, will have their day in court. This way, due process is mutilated.
    Sec. Abalos said the process would evaluate the resignation papers of the PNP officers by the five-man committee which would submit a list to the National Police Commission for further review. If enough evidence merits a criminal case, this would be filed in court. Here, the committee would be acting like prosecutors.
    Those found to be innocent would be retained and continue with their service. And they are still talking about what to do with officers who would not submit their resignation. They are facing a blank wall since they cannot just say that an officer is guilty just because he did not submit his resignation. 
    And what could have been the reason why Gen. Azurin filed his courtesy resignation aside from obedience to the DILG boss? First, PNP Chief Azurin who is retiring by the middle of this year would not want to be facing unnecessary delays in his retirement.
    Second, the officers simply know that their courtesy resignation would not be enough to prove any involvement with the drug problem as this has to go through a costly procedure.
    Third, the police officers do not want to be accused of any crimes or involvement in the illegal drug trade that is why they cannot oppose the appeal of Sec. Abalos.
    When Sec. Abalos announced his order on national TV for the police colonels and generals to submit their courtesy resignation, I already had reservations that the move would not work as it has no legal basis and would go against due process, the time-honored way of resolving problems.
    Instead of protecting one’s government career by maintaining the person’s innocence unless proven guilty by filing the proper criminal case against the police official suspected of involvement in the drug trade, he or she is first removed from the service. Indeed, shoot first and ask questions later.
     The secretary earlier said that the police officers engaged in drug dealing have so much money, power and resources which means that there was prior knowledge about their involvement. No wonder, the Abalos appeal focused on police colonels and generals.
    But it is unlikely that the lower-ranked policemen who compose the bigger number of the police organization have lesser involvement in the drug problem, compared to the smaller number of colonels and generals. This has to be checked too.
    So far, 65 per cent or around 500 plus of 947 generals and full colonels have tendered their resignation, the deadline for the submission of which was by the end of January. The process is expected to last for three months.
    Investigating 900 plus police colonels and generals and finding out which among them are involved in illegal drugs is not an easy job for a five-man team. What would happen if they missed investigating the real scalawags and dismissed from service the innocent ones? The public would accuse them of so many things, including bribery.
    Certainly if this fails, the PNP would be divided in so many factions, and the public could only choose which faction to support. Let us pray that no faction would be going against this government.
    This would prove that the appeal to file courtesy resignations achieved nothing but reveal that there is corruption in the entire police organization. Why so? There is such a thing called the “follow the leader” mentality. You trade drugs, I sell too.