Three is not enough
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia News Network, Manila
Take it from the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP). You cannot trust just any policeman to act on a kidnapping case. For all you know, the policeman you run to for help could be in cahoots with the kidnappers. Best for you to seek the help of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) team.
Whether intended as advice or warning, that statement of PNP director general Hermogenes Ebdane rang alarm bells across the nation. Of course, he made it clear he was talking of kidnapping. But when he vouched for the trustworthiness of the members of the Pacer team, he seemed to have damned by implication the rest of the police force.
Actually what Ebdane said was nothing new. Many others had said as much earlier. And for very good reasons. Men in uniform and other agents of the law seem to be behind every big crime, with the exception of graft and corruption. Criminal syndicates involved in kidnapping, robbery, drug-trafficking and other crimes always seem to have some law enforcement agents among its key operatives.
Some lawmakers have criticized Ebdane for his candor. One congressman even demanded his resignation for causing demoralization in the ranks of the PNP. Of course, the congressman missed the bigger problem completely and in the process revealed once more his penchant for shielding wrongdoers.
By Ebdane's own reckoning, there are 5,000 scalawags in the police force. Would he be doing the nation a service by sweeping the problem under the rug, as the congressman seems to believe?
That is the task before Ebdane now: To clean up the ranks and rid the police force of criminals in uniform. Ebdane said a crackdown was already on, following a directive issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He cited the arrest in August of a police superintendent and two policemen involved in robbery and car theft as well as a couple of former Marines suspected of different crimes.
Obviously these accomplishments are not enough. Catching three erring policemen in two months hardly makes for a serious crackdown. It won't even cause concern among the hard-boiled thugs hiding in police uniforms. At that rate it would take almost three centuries to rid the PNP of the 5,000 scalawags that infest it now according to Ebdane himself.
A more serious effort to find and prosecute these rogue policemen is clearly in order if the PNP wishes to win back the trust of the people.
The successful resolution of these cases should show more than anything else that Ebdane and the PNP are really determined to clean up the police force. Anything less would mark the effort as half-hearted and useless.