Punchline
Our good cops, bad cops
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
“SO far so good!” That I believe is the nervous sentiment of police officers and barangay officials protecting drug operations in their areas, and moonlighting as drug pushers.
Indeed, in spite of Pangasinan, particularly cities of Dagupan and Urdaneta being labeled by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority as a major transshipment point for shabu in northern and central Luzon, no known ranking personality, whether a mayor, barangay kapitan or police chief in Pangasinan, has been tagged by PDu30 as major players.
But if the matrix briefly shown to media by PDu30 last Thursday night is any indication, the possibility is great that the names of well-placed officials and police officers in the province are included in that big illustration. So, I won’t be surprised if some politicos and police officers are already having sleepless nights.
And why shouldn’t they be afraid? To be tagged and shamed by PDu30 is not the only worst thing that can happen to them. The news reports last week about two non-commissioned police officers being eliminated in public with signboards around their necks that read: “Pulis-drug pusher Hwag parisan,!” supposedly by vigilantes can be just as worse. The thought that they are already being targeted to be silenced forever should make their heartbeats skip every 5 seconds.
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GOOD COPS. I am not sure if the spate of killing of drug personalities in the country by our policemen, ostensibly to help eradicate illegal drug trade, is meant to help justify the move of President Rody Duterte and his former running mate Senator Alan Cayetano to increase their salaries two fold, or simply meant to silence their cohorts and bring their guarded secrets to their graves.
Either way, I can sense that our people are cheering for PDu30 and the gung-ho cops! Finally, our communities feel our policemen are clearly on their side, not as private armies of politicians and syndicates.
Plans of adjusting our cops’ salaries while cheering them on are definitely one helluva morale booster! It’s the kind of support that our cops have been denied over the decades, no thanks to martial law! Yet, these are men and women who know they have to risk their lives at one time or another because they have sworn to protect the people from criminals.
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UNDERPAID TO BE DEPENDENT. For decades, our national officials were aware that our policemen are way underpaid for the job and responsibility assigned to them. The way our cops have been treated are no different from the way our politicos keep the poor to remain poor. In the case of the policemen, they have been made to be dependent on politicos for their promotions, extra pay, etc. Conversely, it’s the situation that works for the gambling and drug lords.
So wonder no more why many of our government workers are woefully underpaid!
The Duterte-Cayetano team knew that if we have to improve the peace and order situation in the country, government must allow for opportunities to make our policemen and their families live decent, comfortable lives. They must be insulated from the clutches of criminal syndicates, corrupt politicians and businessmen.
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MOTIVATING THE GOOD COPS. Consider this. Mr. Cayetano cited the entry level for our policeman (PO1): a basic monthly salary of P14,834, an amount way below the monthly living wage of P27,510 for a family of five (5) set by the National Wages and Productivity Commission. That would represent only a fraction of what a drug lord is prepared to pay him for protection, and more, for creating a network of pushers.
It’s gratifying to know that the reaction of many men in uniform to the proposed entry level of P50, 530 monthly is very encouraging to say the least! The idealists among the good cops tell me it’s definitely the best motivation to keep their honor and integrity intact. It also gives them something to look forward to as they move up the ladder based on merits.
So let’s have that real change fast! I pray our lawmakers will do their job while our policemen do theirs in the war against criminality and illegal drugs.
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THE POTENTIAL CRIMINAL. Not a few have wondered why drug-users are being targeted as suspects like drug pushers when they are supposed to be considered victims.
Here’s why: Many of the heinous crimes committed in recent years were perpetrated by drug-users. And in most cases, the commission of the crimes have far exceeded the level of violence that ordinary criminals committed in the past. Robberies, rape, kidnapping are now accompanied by gruesome and violent acts of brutality when the perpetrators are high on drugs.
Drug-users are not content with robbing a victim of cash and material things, they maim, rape and kill their victims. Rapists are not content merely in satisfying their uncontrollable lust but turn into sadist monsters brutalizing their victims until they die and dumped like garbage.
The drug addict, as many studies have shone, is prone to be violent for the flimsiest reason. Simply put, nobody is safe in the company of a drug-user who’s high!
At the very least, the drug-user is the thief in the family. He/she steals anything of value at home to support the habit! Any parent of a drug addict will tell you how a drug addict at home can destroy family relations overnight.
The drug-user /addict is a potential criminal if not treated.
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NO RESPONSE AGAIN. Two weeks ago, I sent a text message to Dagupan City Agriculturist Emma Molina asking her for an update on her office’s clearing operations, to rid the city’s rivers finally of illegal fish pens and oversized fish cages. No response.
I sent her basically the same message again last week.
My text: Good pm Ms Molina, may I have your responses to ff questions: 1. Exactly, how many more remaining illegal fish pens to be dismantled and oversized fish cages to be corrected as of July 7? Who own these?? What’s your next deadline since your April deadline already expired? What steps have your office taken vs violators? Have cases of violation of ordinance filed vs owners of dismantled pens? What do you consider as problems in completely stopping illegal fish pen and oversized operations? Thanks. I’ll appreciate your response by July 8 noon, our press deadline. – Ermin Garcia, Sunday Punch- punch.sunday@gmail.com.
Again, no response.
Fine, I’ll wait for the FOI to become law and I will hold her legally accountable for refusing to make her data public.
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THE SUNDAY PUNCHERS. In celebrating our 60th anniversary of continuous publication, I wish to acknowledge everyone who wrote and contributed articles, prepared and produced our paper without fail, whatever the situation was, whatever the odds were. You will find their names in our one page of acknowledgment in this issue.
My sincerest apologies to those whose names I inadvertently missed. I will appreciate a reminder about those whose names we omitted here so we can correct our files and include their names in the roster.
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