When President Rodrigo Duterte announced during a thanksgiving concert held in Davao City that he was naming top PNP officials who were protectors of the illegal drug trade in the country, he also called on them to resign or else they would face consequences.
He didn’t mention when he would do so, but in last Tuesday’s gathering during the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force, President Duterte named former deputy general Manuel Garbo of the Philippine National Police; retired former Cebu provincial police chief Vicente Loot; Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz of the PNP in Western Visayas (Region 6); former National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Joel Pagdilao; and former Quezon City Police District (QCPD) chief Edgardo Tinio as drug protectors.
The disclosure came days after Chief Supt. Patrocinio Comendador Jr., former Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) chief, called on the public to be vigilant and help the police conduct lifestyle checks on their personnel and officials.
Loot, who received P5 million worth of retirement benefits from the police, also had more than P100 million in his accounts, but he reiterated that it is shared wealth with his wife, former Daanbantayan mayor Ma. Luisa “Malou” Loot.
While Garbo and the others on this list were expected to issue their denials and schedule their meetings with President Duterte, last Tuesday’s message was clear: the war on drugs is escalating.
With the President mincing no words in saying that the fight “will be dirty” and he won’t apologize for it, public approval ratings will certainly be high in the next few days as Filipinos see that something concrete is being done to combat the drug menace.
Not a few Duterte supporters were gloating that things would have been different if any of Duterte’s rivals in the presidential race, specifically Liberal Party bet Mar Roxas, won the presidency.
But now’s not the time for vindictiveness, especially when the Duterte administration’s self-imposed three- to six-month target to reduce criminality and the drug menace is on the line.
Rights advocates and the public will certainly have issues with the killings of drug suspects, but Mr. Duterte’s announcement of drug protectors in the police, the military and local governments will serve notice to them that their days of wealth and power are numbered.
And the public can help realize that goal to eliminate the drug menace by not only avoiding drug dealers but helping identify them to the police and the local officials committed to eradicating those who continue to indulge in the drug trade.
A mansion, a few cars and some unexplained source of wealth can be grounds for ordinary citizens to report these to the Ombudsman who can coordinate with police to verify if those local and police officials are benefiting from protection money given by drug syndicates. Vigilance will be key in the war against illegal drugs.