The death of Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz in a police encounter with agents of the Cebu police intelligence unit backed by law enforcers of Las Piñas City Friday last week had drawn a lot of comments from netizens, mostly if not all wondering why Jaguar had to be killed when he would have been of value to the police alive.
The online reactions merely reflect the skepticism of ordinary people on the police crackdown against illegal drug traders — that law enforcers are in cahoots with the criminal syndicate.
Jaguar was running an illegal trade without any hassle from the police for many years. He was running a drug distribution system, not in some inaccessible cave but in an urban center where police presence is supposed to be felt 24/7.
In truth, Jaguar was not very high on the totem of illegal drug trade. He was just an errand boy of some influential people inside the National Bilibid Prison. He oversaw the multi-million peso business from his house in Duljo-Fatima, Cebu City — as if running a legitimate enterprise complete with a corporate social responsibility (CSR) component. It’s a narrative worthy of an urban legend.
The police claim to know his illegal activities and his links to the syndicate but not a single case had been filed against him. I have not come across news reports that law enforcers tried to build up a case against Jaguar. He was veritably the local Al Capone, an untouchable police character for more than a decade until Rodrigo Duterte was elected president, vowed to eliminate crime and offered a bounty to policemen who could snare a drug trader.
I really think than when Jaguar agreed to be interviewed by local news reporter Rowena Capistrano and anchorman Alex Bolongaita a week ago, the drug trader knew he was a marked man and was torn between squealing on his cohorts and keeping his silence to protect his family.
In the end, Jaguar fled to Manila to look for a way out together with his associate, Alvaro “Barok” Alvaro, who is also high in the hit list.
Excuse my penchant for movies about the mob, but the circumstances of Jaguar’s death somehow raise doubts that Barok could have led the police to his partner-in-crime. Double cross appears to be written all over Jaguar’s death which brings us back to the common perception that authorities know well both the ins and outs of the illegal drug trade.
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As an advocate of the business model called cooperatives, I am delighted to know that incoming President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte will engage farmers belonging to the Claveria Agricultural Producers Cooperative in Claveria, Misamis Oriental when he takes his oath as the 16th president of Philippines come June 30, 2016.
The farmers of the Claveria co-op grow silkworms and process the silk into yarn known as Mindanao silk. This exquisite material will be sewn for Digong’s inaugural Barong Tagalog, which local tailors and fashion houses are excitedly preparing for the first Mindanaoan president.
Digong will have the luxury of choosing from 12 gorgeous styles and if we know this simple man, I think he will pick from the rack of a local couture house, not from some Italian or French fashion house.
On the subject of co-ops, I wonder if the sector has gotten together to prepare a roadmap under the new administration. When I posted updates about former Cong. Pablo Garcia’s take on the victory of Duterte and how it will impact on the cooperative sector, somebody tried to prompt sectoral leaders to meet and draw a unified plan.
This is easier said than done because the movement is very fragmented.
There are around 23,000 co-op organizations all over the country belonging to 250 different federations. The Philippine Cooperative Center is supposed to be the apex body but I heard only affluent co-ops are under this umbrella.
I think the co-op movement should rally behind the new leadership because his amor for the downtrodden is very apparent unlike under the previous regime which even tried to kill the sector by lifting its tax exemption privilege.
Digong’s pronouncements of reforming the mining sector by tapping co-ops in areas where mining companies have flouted industry standards speak volumes.
High time for the sector to hoist its sail now that the wind is fair.
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