By now, the online community of Filipino netizens would have had their say on the arrest of PO3 Ritchie Saquilabon whose arrest during last Monday’s sting operation also resulted in the relief of the entire 39-member Parian police precinct where he is assigned.
Saquilabon and two other police officers whose identities were withheld stand accused of extorting money from a drug suspect whose relative reported it to Camp Crame.
It’s likely that the relative managed to contact Camp Crame, the PNP’s national headquarters, through the hotlines given by the Palace (911 or 8888) though we don’t rule out other means through which the alleged bribery attempt was made.
Saquilabon and his two fellow police officers didn’t exactly ask for much — P20,000 may be large to some but it’s pocket change compared to the millions being extorted by so-called public officials — but an extortion attempt involving drug suspects that was caught by a Camp Crame task force is no small matter.
Saquilabon’s arrest led to the relief of the entire Parian police precinct on that now cliched principle of command responsibility. What happens to the police precinct chief and his personnel will be known in the next few days or weeks, but it isn’t the first time this occurred and it won’t be the last.
The extortion attempt occurred two months after the Palace approved a salary pay increase for both the police and military which meant that the lowest ranked police officer is guaranteed a monthly income of at least above the minimum wage.
Again that’s not much in comparison to other more high-profile posts in government and the private sector — a board member of a public utility firm receives a larger salary and perks for sitting in airconditioned offices and traveling all over the world on taxpayers’ money — and police and soldiers pay the ultimate price by staking their lives on the line to ensure public safety.
But as the average person on the street will tell you, higher salaries is no iron clad guarantee that corruption in the ranks will go down nor would it lead and inspire to commit to better service and Saquilabon and his two cohorts sadly prove that assertion.
Maybe even with his higher salary, Saquilabon was enticed by the lure of easy big money. After all, as self-confessed drug lord Rolando “Kerwin” Espinosa admitted, a top drug dealer can make 10 times more than the highest paid PNP police chief earns in a month which is P121,000 and still have more than enough to bribe police officers, jail guards and any politician willing to compromise whatever remains of his or her integrity in exchange for funds.
Saquilabon’s arrest should serve as both a reminder and warning to the people in uniform about the consequences of giving into corruption and how it should not only be overcome but stamped out along with the drug menace.
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