The shootout between PO3 Ryan Quiamco and the police that resulted in his death and the death of his wife Rizalyn in Barangay Pooc, Talisay City, last Tuesday evening dovetailed into the arrest of Chinese businessman Kenneth Dong, also known as Dong Yi Shen, after attending a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing.
Both incidents, if anything, highlight the Duterte administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign in dramatic fashion and shows how, if done right, the war against drugs can be quite effective in scaling down or wiping out the menace and getting rid of the drug lords hopefully on a permanent basis.
Quiamco was, based on the resulting police investigation after the shootout, an unrepentant drug coddler and pusher listed in President Rodrigo Duterte’s drugs watch list, and even had his wife supposedly involved in the illegal drugs trade.
While Quiamco and his wife met a bloody end, it’s just the start of what is expected to be a protracted legal dispute with Dong, whose Mandaue City nightclub is under investigation by Mandaue City Hall.
Though Dong may face drug charges, it’s a previous rape case that effected his eventual arrest right after attending a Senate hearing, and wouldn’t you know it, the incident allegedly happened right in his club.
Quiamco is but one of the many cases of people in uniform who had not only compromised but also sold their mandate to serve the public in exchange for enriching themselves through drugs.
The Philippine National Police’s weeding-out process is being undertaken though not at a pace that an impatient public wants and expects. Either the cops are assigned to some dangerous places in Mindanao where they can meet their bloody end sooner or later, or they would rather resign and be allowed to keep their dirty profits to themselves, to public chagrin who would rather see them dead on the streets.
Dong’s case is a bit more complicated, and owing to his wealth and alleged ties to powerful people, it would take a lot more than just bullets to resolve. Public interest on the businessman’s case would wane given a certain amount of time, and the country’s law enforcement agencies sadly don’t have a stellar track record when it comes to prosecuting drug suspects in court.
Hence, it’s no wonder that a lot of Filipinos — who have lost patience with the grinding, protracted legal dispute with criminal suspects — rejoice whenever a drug suspect falls especially if the suspect is a corrupt cop or an elected/appointed public official with ties to the drug trade.
Law enforcement agencies need to muster and maximize whatever tools they have at their disposal to successfully prosecute suspected drug lords if only to reassert and rebuild public confidence in the country’s justice system.